


The Heat Draws the Storm

by GreyWolfGhost



Series: Like Father, Like Son [2]
Category: Castle
Genre: Abduction, Absent Parents, Alternate Universe, American Sign Language, Art, Artists, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Betrayal, Blackmail, Brother-Sister Relationships, Child Loss, Child Neglect, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Deaf Character, Derrick Storm, Detective Comics, Detectives, Doctor John Watson, Emotional Manipulation, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Graphic Novel, Growing Up, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Loss of Control, Loss of Innocence, Loss of Trust, Major Original Character(s), Manhattan, Middle School, Mind Games, Minor Violence, Mother-Son Relationship, Mystery, New York City, Nikki Heat - Freeform, Pain, Parent-Child Relationship, Phone Calls & Telephones, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Parents, Protective Siblings, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Punishment, Revenge, Trauma, Writers, detective heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2019-10-05 06:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 92,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17319932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyWolfGhost/pseuds/GreyWolfGhost
Summary: When Castle's son is kidnapped, the man calling himself M doesn't demand money. He wants Castle to write a story in which Derrick Storm teams up with Detective Heat to solve a kidnapping. He has specific parameters that Castle as the writer must follow and strict rules in regards to how Rome's kidnapping must be addressed by the team and who can be involved. As M taunts Castle psychologically torturing father and son on both ends of the phone, it's a race against time to find Rome before M decides how the story should end.Set between season 1 and 2. This is a sequel to "Like Father Like Son" and was originally published to Fanfiction.net and CoWritten with HugMe.Please consider leaving kudos or even comments. It began as a challenge issued by a reader on FanFiction and quickly became one of my proudest works.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to 'Like Father Like Son' so please have read that to fully enjoy this fic.

                                                                                                     

 

One by one he ran his finger down the spines of each of the novels produced by Richard Castle, from his very first to the most recent Nikki Heat. What author could hold such a pull over his readers as Richard Castle; the murder, the mystery, the intrigue, the spell woven what a mystery he could have at his feet that he had not seen.

He then turned to the newspaper clippings all the cases Nikki Heat had solved over the last few years, so many cases, such an amazing detective.

Two of the greatest crime solvers ever to grace the page; Detective Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm. What would happen if those two were forced to work together? What story could that create? How had Mr. Castle not seen the potential for that story?

His fingers moved from the books and over to the photographs lining his corkboard and the ones hanging from clips all over the apartment. Detective Heat arriving at a crime scene, Derrick Storm, purchasing coffee, just going about their business, so unaware that they were being followed, being photographed. He was about to give Mr. Castle the most impressive and wonderful storyline of the century.

If only they knew, then maybe they would be able to solve the crime before it could even occur, but where would the fun be in that?

The key would be the timing, the key would also be the one thing that would get Derrick Storm, Nikki Heat, Richard Castle, and Detective Beckett passionately involved in a case; the one thing that connected them. And of course it couldn't be just anything that played this starring part; it had to be a something very specific, or someone very specific. A child.

Now his finger moved to one photograph, in particular, one that was slightly different from the rest; that very key. If he could pull this off, the novel would write itself and would launch a new wave in the book world.

The only snag in the plan was how to go about getting the key, it would not be an easy task…but there had to be a way, Roman Castle was a child, and he was a necessity to jump-starting this case, the how was going to take some extra time, but he was a patient man.

He took down the photograph of Roman on the playground at school playing with his friends and then another of Roman, his father, sister, and grandmother all at one of Mr. Castle's book releases. Roman was smiling wide at the camera, unaware that this photographer was not interested in snagging a photo for the latest newspaper or blog about his father.

What a magnificent child Mr. Castle had, so proud of his father and yet so humble about his own talents, of course, it was also impossible to forget the daughter as well, a girl of many talents and intelligence, Richard Castle no dummy himself, he must be aware of how lucky he was, how unique his children are.

Oh to have the set of Castle children, that would certainly make the story much more interesting, but it was going to be difficult enough getting one of the children, let alone both, best to go with the younger one.

He brushed his hand against one of Roman's sketches, that he had found in the art room of the Castle children's school, piled with the rest of the class, but this was real art, real talent. It was the makings of a graphic novel, his own story coming to life on the page in the form of art.

The child could write the story from his point of view, the view of the kidnapped child, while his father would write the case itself. Two wonderful stories converging into one wonderful and delightful novel. No one had ever thought to do that.

It was time to get the story started; the characters were lined up, the plot ready to go. It was now time to put it into action.

"Ready or Not, Detective…Mr. Storm, here we go."

Xxxxx

Rome and Kevin had their books spread through Kevin's bedroom, his little brother was out helping their mother clean up after dinner, giving the older boys a chance to finish their homework. Even though they were only in sixth grade, Rome started a Pre Advanced Placement course, following in his sister's footsteps.

Unlike Alexis though, Rome was avoiding math and science, he was good at both, but really wasn't ready to face them at the AP level, so he started out slow, taking history just to get his feet wet as Gram had called it.

He was really looking forward to his high school years because he could branch out and include studio-art drawing into those courses. Castle had no doubt that by the time Rome was ready for high school all of his courses would be AP, just like Alexis.

Being in sixth grade the kids started switching classes instead of staying with the same teacher throughout the day. Rome, Kevin, Gage, a few others from both fifth-grade class including Miranda and Emily were all in the honors classes for math, science, history, and English, and they were together.

Emily wasn't so bad, but Rome had been hoping that Miranda wasn't in any of his classes, she annoyed him with her know-it-all-approach to life and the way she tried to make her classmates feel like they should be working harder at school.

They were only two weeks into the school year and already Rome was ready to jump ship just to get away from Miranda. Gage and Kevin were the only reason he hadn't, they were keeping him sane…them and…Emily. She was really starting to come out of her shell in the first few days of school and she actually opened up to sit with the group at lunch, of course, Miranda and a few her friends followed which was kind of annoying.

Camp had been a lot of fun and even though Rome had been disappointed it had ended, he was so excited to see his dad standing there arms open waiting for him on the last day of camp. Father and son reunited.

His new friend Chase had stayed at the loft for a few days and Castle took him, Rome, and Rome's friends to Coney Island for the day.

After Chase flew home to Cali, Rome once again bid his friends by as him and his dad joined Alexis and Martha in the Hamptons for rest of summer vacation. Nothing but swimming in the ocean and the pool, watching movies on the huge screen in the home theater room, going deep sea fishing and whale watching, a perfect summer, before heading back to the city just in time to do back-to-school shopping. Something surprisingly all three of them loved to do.

Even though it sounded silly, Rome was most excited for his new backpack from L.L. Bean, because Castle got it monogrammed for him with his initials.

But both Kevin and Rome were ready for vacation to start up again, being in sixth grade meant more responsibility and more work. So it helped that the following day was not only Friday, but the start of Labor Day weekend, technically the official end of summer, but still a long weekend nonetheless.

They were spending Friday night at Todd's apartment along with Joey and Gage and Saturday Todd's dad was taking them down to Jones Beach on Long Island for the day, a real last summer hurrah of swimming.

All five boys were looking forward to the day trip, they just had to make it through school and the long weekend was theirs.

"Rome did you get -5.3 for number eight?" Kevin asked from his desk when Rome didn't answer, Kevin picked up a stress ball from his desk and threw it at Rome, nailing his friend in the head.

Rome looked up, rubbing his head

"Ow!" he grumbled grinning

Over the summer, while Rome had been at camp his hearing had been doing well, even in August when camp was over and the family were in the Hamptons, his hearing was doing better than usual, a few days in a row he didn't even need his hearing aids and it had been great.

That morning, however, Rome couldn't hear anything, his hearing aids were useless, but he wore them just in case.

"What did you get for number eight?" Kevin asked, signing as he went.

Rome pulled his math notebook out of his backpack and checked, he had gotten his math over with first since he wasn't a big fan of it, Kevin who also wasn't a big fan of math had just put it off as long as humanly possible. Both boys were good at it, neither enjoyed it, Gage, on the other hand, would've been all over that, he loved math.

"uh -4.4," Rome replied checking his answer

"Dude are you sure?"

"Yeah, why?"

Kevin's ears went red as he started erasing his answer

"I hate this stuff," he mumbled, "honestly when in my life am I ever gonna need to know this crap."

"What?" Rome asked and Kevin shrugged, grinning a little

"Sorry, I said I hate this stuff," he repeated, making sure Rome could see his lips as he signed "and I don't understand when I'm ever gonna need it."

"Me too," Rome looked his notebook over and grinned at his friend, handing the notebook up to him, "here just double check your answers,"

Kevin returned the grin and nodded his thanks, going over all his answers comparing them with Rome.

Rome had finished all his homework and pulled out his sketchbook waiting for Kevin to finish, they only had about fifteen minutes before Rome had to start walking to karate.

He had to be there at seven and needed to get there a few minutes earlier to change into his Gi as well as help Sensei Kai set up, it was his turn in the class and Rome was anxious to step up to the responsibility he had earned two weeks earlier by achieving his purple belt, only purple belt's and higher were given the privilege of helping the sensei around the dojo and Sensei Kai had hinted to Rome last class that they would be working with some of the weapons that night, something Rome was really looking forward too, especially after his dad had found a set of nerf nun-chucks at a toy store in the Hamptons and had accidentally hit himself in the nose with it, Rome couldn't wait to try the real thing.

To pass the time, Rome sketched Kevin. He had just finished Kevin's desk when Mrs. Campbell knocked on the door peeking in on them.

"Hi boys, how's it coming?"

"Good mom," Kevin replied handing Rome his notebook

"Rome, sweetie," Mrs. Campbell started, even though Rome and Kevin had been friends since preschool, only a few of the parents could sign, Mrs. Campbell knew a few signs and tried her best, but she tended to rely on Kevin for the lengthy stuff. This time around she smiled at Rome and simply tapped her wrist, no translation needed, Rome looked at his own watch and nodded.

"Okay," he scrambled to his feet, grabbing his backpack. He pulled on his jean jacket and his Rough Rider's hat and waved bye to Kevin, following Mrs. Campbell towards the front door. She hugged him tight, "Thank you for having me," he said

"You're welcome Rome, tell your dad we said hi, okay?"

"I will, bye!"

Rome took the elevator down to the lobby of Kevin's building and stopped short when he looked outside, it was down pouring, monsoon, Rome groaned. It was a ten-minute walk to his karate dojo, he was going to be soaked.

He reached into his pocket and felt his wallet, he had twenty dollars on him, he could take a taxi to his dojo, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But Rome knew his odds, getting a taxi, at 5:45 in the afternoon, in the rain was not very good.

He knew he'd just have to suck it up and get wet. If he ran, it would be better, but Rome knew the sidewalks were going to be crowded.

Taking a deep breath, Rome sucked it up and stepped outside, two blocks that was it, he just had to make it two blocks.

Quickly he began walking, trying to avoid the other pedestrians who seemed intentionally trying to step on him. It wasn't easy being as small as he was, Rome had learned to deal with it and he knew how genetics worked, his dad had been pretty small when he was a kid so Rome could only hope that he had enough of his dad's genes that when he was older he'd be just like his dad.

Rome followed the rest of the pedestrians across the street, making it just as the traffic began inching forward, nothing brought out bad drivers and nutcase drivers like the rain. He had about a block to go and couldn't wait to get out of the rain. He glanced down for a second, minding the puddles, he looked up just in time to sidestep a businessman trying to balance yapping on his cell phone, holding an umbrella, carrying his briefcase and drinking from his Starbucks cup. His apparent multitasking circus was all well and good, but he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and nearly ran into Rome.

Rome moved to the side and let the guy go past, he didn't even notice where he was standing, and he wasn't entirely sure what happened next. He felt someone wrap their arms around him and something was pressed against his face.

It was sweet smelling and Rome started to feel dizzy, he tried to fight, tried to call for help as the person carried him into the alleyway. He was getting tired, his body just wanted him to sleep.

No one on the sidewalk seemed to notice what was going on, it was New York, of course, no one saw anything, as Rome was carried deeper into the alley. He had been taking karate for five years and had learned a lot in those five years, he fought his captor, struggled to get loose, wiggled, kicked everything he could, he even tried to scream for help around the cloth that was pressed so tight against his face it hurt.

As well as the basic Kempo Karate style, Sensei Kai had also taught his class self-defense, he taught them how to protect themselves, what to do if someone grabbed them. He used Rome as a demo many times because he knew Rome wouldn't panic if he got picked up.

Each time Rome had always managed to get away, using his small size to his advantage, but this time was different, not only was the person a lot stronger and using all that strength, but the cloth over Rome's mouth and nose was making him lose consciousness, he couldn't fight it, he was losing.

The last thing Rome remembered, as he gave one last ditch effort to get away, was a flash of lightning, the vibration of the thunder, and the vibration of a door slamming shut, like a side door of a van, then everything went black.

                                                                           


	2. Chapter 2

                                                                   

 

 

 

                                                                         

 

 

The floor was cold against Rome's cheek as he started to wake up from what felt like a good night's sleep, even so, he was confused, but attributed that to being still asleep.

It wasn't uncommon for him to wake up and feel a little lost even at home...Rome tended to wake up slightly confused; his ENT had explained it wasn't uncommon for some kids with his type of hearing loss to have disorientation waking up and no one seemed to know why.

For Rome, it also wasn't the first time he had gotten up in the middle of the night and fallen asleep on the floor, so even the floor could be explained.

Slowly Rome slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus...but he really just wanted to sleep a little longer; he was so tired. Sleeping curled up in a little ball was not uncommon but his legs were a little cramped from the position like he had been in that position for a long time, so instinctively Rome went to stretch his whole body out. He felt his heart skip a beat when his feet hit something solid...that rattled.

Quickly Rome tried to sit and promptly banged his head. He was in a cage. Not just any cage but a dog crate like Todd's family had gotten for their puppy Wendell.

Now Rome was in one, and his hands were tied behind his back, not with rope but with a zip-tie. He knew that material.

For one of his dad's books he had enlisted Rome's help in making a scene as realistic as possible so he'd asked Rome to use a zip-tie to tie his hands behind his back to a chair, Rome had obliged of course, then timed his dad to see how long it took him to get loose.

But this was different

What was going on, why was he in this crate? Maybe it was a joke, definitely a cruel one, but still maybe a joke, but no one Rome knew would play this kind of joke on him, no one.

"Hello?" He called "anyone out there? Look this isn't funny!"

No sound came, not that Rome would've heard a reply anyways even when he kicked the cage he felt the rattle but did not hear it, and he realized why his hearing aids were gone. He had put them in that morni...

Rome paused at that thought, had he put them in that morning? He couldn't remember. He didn't even know what time it was and the last thing he remembered was walking out of the school building for home. He didn't remember waking up that morning, saying goodbye to dad and gram, walking to school with Alexis, he didn't even remember his school day. He couldn't even remember what day of the week it was, what was wrong with him?

Now Rome was aware of his surroundings. The room outside the cage was nearly pitch black with the only light coming from a work light hanging from the ceiling above the cage, it was clearly dying and not producing a lot of light.

It had taken Rome a few seconds to notice that he did not have his sneakers or socks on.

He knew it wasn't a joke and he was beginning to get scared. His heart was racing and his whole body shook as panic set in. He began thrashing around in the cage, yelling for help at the top of his lungs and kicking the steel bars as hard as he could, hoping to break the door, even though deep down he knew it was useless.

All this effort earned him was a sore throat and very sore feet. In spite of trying to stay brave Rome felt the tears well up in his eyes. He wanted to go home, he wanted his dad, he didn't understand why he was in this predicament to begin with, what was going on?

"Da…daddy…" he hiccupped weakly, even though he was not ready to lose his fight just yet…

He gave the door another hard kick and this time Rome yelped in pain as his bare foot connected with something sharp on the cage.

Quickly Rome pulled his foot back and tried to examine it in the poor light and through his tears he realized in horror that the side of his foot had a deep gash in it and blood was spilling out, dripping onto the bottom of the crate.

"Ow, ow, owww," he sobbed, of course with his hands secured behind his back he couldn't check his foot, he couldn't wipe the blood away and really check the wound, all Rome could do was pull his knees close to his chest and lay his head on his knees, sobbing. "I wanna go home…please…I just want to go home." He sniffed he stopped when he felt vibrations, like hard soled shoes on a concrete floor, he saw the light in the area change as someone walked towards him.

Rome knew the person was talking to him, he could feel the vibration of the person's voice, but he couldn't hear them and didn't want to look up at the person. He knew people close to him, he knew how they walked and how the way they walked connected with the vibrations he felt when they were walking near him, he could distinguish between his dad, gram, Alexis, his mom and Gina, some of his teachers, his friends, even Detective Beckett's footsteps had been engrained on his mind and he knew for a fact, that he did not recognize these footsteps.

He was not going to look up, he was not going to see who was talking to him, Rome was not an idiot; he knew that whoever was talking to him was most likely the one who had put him in this cage.

The cage itself vibrated as the person hit the top of it, reflexes kicked in and Rome looked up even though every part of him screamed at him not to.

The person looked at him sternly and Rome didn't recognize him at all. He was an older man, definitely older than his father, but a little younger than Gram, though what shocked Rome was the fact the man was signing. It was hard to follow him as the man was clearly a newbie at signing and the limited light and Rome's tears made it tough as well.

When Rome tried to look away, the man hit the top of the cage again, Rome jumped high and squeaked out a cry, he scrambled as far back in the cage as he could go, which is to say not very far, but it was instinct to get away from the guy.

Instead of continuing to sign, Rome got the feeling the man was frustrated with him, so he hit the top of the cage one last time and walked away from him. Rome let out a long breath, he had been holding his breath the entire time and he coughed a little as he remembered to breathe. He watched as the man's shadow disappeared into a brightly lit room and a door slammed shut.

"Wait…wait come back, please! Please, I just want to go home, please! Please, what do you want?" Of course, there was no answer, not that Rome expected one. He felt his stomach drop as he slammed his shoulder against the door as hard as he could. "please…please I just want to g'ome."

Seconds later, the one light situated over Rome's head that was giving him even the slightest bit of comfort, went out…and didn't come back on.

"No!" Rome cried "dad!"

Xxx

 

                                                                     

Richard Castle woke up with a start. He wasn't sure what woke him up, but he groggily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. His neck was stiff from his cat nap in his recliner, the laptop had barely moved from his lap, but the screensaver was flashing angrily 'you should be writing'

Still half awake, Castle looked at his watch and jumped up in a hurry nearly dropping his laptop to the floor. He was late to pick Rome up from karate; he should've been there thirty minutes ago! Rome was probably going out of his mind with worry.

No one else was home yet, Alexis was at her friend Lauren's studying and Martha was at some seminar dinner thing, Castle wasn't entirely sure what. It was supposed to be just him and Rome for the evening, father and son, causing mischief and mayhem, not to mention stuffing their faces with whipped cream and ice cream toppings.

Quickly Castle pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number to the Dojo.

"Lotus Karate Studio, Sensei Kai speaking".

"Sensei Kai, this is Richard Castle, Rome's dad. Look I'm so sorry I got caught up in writing and lost track of time, please tell me Rome didn't get anxious and start walking home alone?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.

"Um, Mr. Castle I was actually just sitting down to call you, Rome isn't here; he never came to class. It's not like him to miss so I was going to call and see if everything was all right. Mr. Castle is everything okay?"

Castle felt his stomach drop a little, but he composed himself quickly, he had an idea about was going on.

Rome had gone home from school to his friend Kevin's apartment, Kevin lived two blocks from the dojo, Rome was supposed to walk to his class at six from Kevin's apartment and wait until after his class to be picked up by Castle at 7:30.

There was a good chance that Rome just lost track of time, he was ten after all and had the attention span of well…his father, he probably just forgot about karate he was having so much fun with his friend.

Castle explained this briefly to Sensei Kai, apologizing for Rome missing class and promising that Rome would be apologizing as well before he hung up to call Kevin's parents.

He was stunned to learn that Rome had been at the apartment until about 5:45 when he headed out for karate. Not wanting to worry them, Castle said he was just checking and promised to call them back.

Now the panic was starting to set in, this wasn't like Rome at all. His one disappearing act last spring had been the only time to this extreme, and in all fairness that hadn't even been Rome's fault. Trying to compose himself, Castle called Rome's other friends, but none of them had seen Rome since school let out, and when Castle called Rome's cell phone, it went straight to voicemail.

First instinct now was to call Beckett, but as Castle's thumb hovered over her name, he hesitated. Beckett was still mad at him over her mother's case. She had made it perfectly clear that they were through. She hadn't returned any of his phone calls, she never even picked up; it just kept ringing.

Castle knew this wouldn't be different, but he needed some help with this, she had found Rome the last time he had gotten lost, maybe between the two of them they'd have a better shot finding him this time around. Besides she had a soft spot for his kids.

Before Castle could hit the send button, his phone began ringing loudly. It was Rome's ringtone, the Cabin Fever song from Muppet Treasure Island, one of his favorite movies.

'I've got cabin fever it's burning in my brain, I've got the cabin fever it's driving me insane, we've got cabin fever we're flippin' our bandanas been stuck at sea so long that we have simply gone bananas.'

It didn't even register in Castle's mind that Rome's hearing had been acting up that morning, it had taken a long time to get him out of bed because he couldn't hear his dad calling him and the hearing aids hadn't done any good either.

Rome was going to have to go the day without any hearing. This should have graced Castle's mind, but he was so relieved to hear Rome's familiar ringtone that it slipped his mind…and he didn't question why his son was calling when he wouldn't be able to hear the conversation.

"Roman!" Castle exclaimed "Dude not cool, where are you? I have been worried sick." There was a long pause "Rome?"

"Mr. Castle, excellent, I was hoping you would have the good graces to pick up, this would not be the time to play phone tag after all" a strange voice dripping with sarcasm addressed him. Castle didn't personally recognize the voice, but his fruitful imagination began sorting the worst case scenario out, all associated with that kind of voice.

"Who the hell is this? Where is my son?"

"All in good time Mr. Castle, all in good time. First things first, your son is safe, his remaining that way will depend on you of course."

"Look, I don't know who you are or what the hell you want-"

"Your cooperation Mr. Castle. That is what I want, and as far as who I am, telling you that will spoil the mystery. You may, however, address me as M. That will suffice for now."

"Mystery?! Look where is my son? I want to speak to my son!"

"I'm sure you do Mr. Castle, but as I said, he is safe and in my care."

Anger and fear forced a lump into Castle's throat

"Put my son on the phone now!"

"I'm afraid I cannot do that Mr. Castle. As I'm sure you were aware this morning, while you were getting Roman up and ready for school you noticed that his hearing was not up to par today. Poor thing, it would be pointless to put Roman on the phone as he cannot hear you. I will gladly pass on any message you may have."

"Look you son of a bi-"

"Now, now, no need for that Mr. Castle. Let me explain how this is going to work. Your daughter Alexis should be arriving home, right about now,"

Castle jumped as the door opened to reveal Alexis, home early from Lauren's. She looked at him in surprise, seeing the pale horrified look on her father's normally jovial face.

"Dad?" she whispered and Castle shook his head at her,

"How did you do that?!"

"I have my ways Mr. Castle, just like I know you are about to put the phone on speaker so that you and Alexis can share in the conversation, I must ask you to not do that. I would prefer if only you hear this information at the moment. As I said Roman is safe…for now."

Castle bit his knuckle, trying to maintain composure; his whole body was shaking with anger and fear.

"What...do…you…want?" Castle managed to ask, his voice was animal-like, growling the question, the true form of animalistic behavior, the parent protecting the child.

"We are all going to have an adventure. You, Mr. Castle, will have two jobs to accomplish so I do hope you are as good at multitasking as you claim to be. I am about to launch your writing career over Patterson, over Lehane, over Connolly. I am about to make you the next Doyle…the next Poe. And all you have to do as yourself is write." Castle didn't reply, he was afraid to speak, afraid he would say something that would put Rome in more danger. The caller had been making it clear that Rome was safe 'for now' what if he said the wrong thing that would change that. "Mr. Castle, please acknowledge that you are still with me."

"I…Understand." Castle forced out. Castle wasn't one to break down, he certainly wasn't one to cry, but the lump in his throat was getting bigger and threatening to spill tears as the anger and fear fought for first place.

Alexis was at his side, straining to listen to the conversation. She knew something was very wrong and it involved Rome somehow…oh god…had someone taken him?

"Good Mr. Castle. Now your other duty is not quite as simple. Of course, no story is complete without characters that we want to see succeed and overcome their hardships. Two characters, in particular, I had in mind, Derrick Storm of course and what mystery novel would be complete without the irresistible Detective Nikki Heat."

Castle nearly dropped the phone in shock, his books? That was what this whole thing was about? this was why his son was in the hands of a psychopath, over his damn books!?

They are fictional characters!" Castle exclaimed, "they are not real!"

"Oh I assure you Mr. Castle they are quite real and you and Detective Heat will crack this case wide open. The greatest spy after James Bond and the greatest detective since Sherlock Holmes, working together to solve the kidnapping of a famous Mystery author's young deaf son. What a story this will be." The caller paused "now for the rules to our little game. No one except the following members of the team are allowed to participate, those are the rules and breaking them will come with severe consequences. Of course, you will be acting in the role as both Mr. Storm and yourself, I would not like to include Mr. Rook in all of this, he is a bit too arrogant for my taste, therefore, I have excluded his character from this case. Let's see we also have Detective Heat, Detectives Ochoa, Raley, Captain Montrose, yes and I believe it would not hurt to have Dr. Parry in the mix as well, just to make it interesting. A medical examiner will come in quite handy in this game."

"Interesting?" Castle repeated, unable to believe this man through all of this was a game, he was holding his son hostage and thought it was just a game.

The caller continued however as if Castle hadn't said a word

"Of course Martha and Alexis have their own parts to play the grieving grandmother and the distraught but strong daughter, but I do think it is best to keep it within law enforcement don't you?" without waiting for a reply the caller went on. "Do not forget Mr. Castle you must write the story. I will call in two hours' time, to be sure that we are all on the same schedule. This is a mystery, after all, I would hate for something important to fall through the cracks. Each clue I leave will lead you and Detective Heat that much closer to Roman. I have provided the case, Mr. Castle, you provide the story. Each clue I leave behind will provide the locations, which is where your next clue will be located. I will also call when I will expect your written chapter, which you will be emailing to me. Do not bother trying to trace the email, to track it, I can assure you Mr. Castle you will be wasting your time. The email address will not be the same each time. I understand you have some difficulty with deadlines Mr. Castle. I would strongly advise that you stick to this one, your son's life does depend on it."

"I want something else in return, not just more clues I want to see Rome."

"Provided you uphold your end of the case Mr. Castle, and I am satisfied with your chapter, I will consider providing you with the chance for a minute long video chat with Roman. Keep in mind I say consider, I will not be obligated to do so. You will both have the opportunity to check on one another and say a few words. But be aware Mr. Castle, Roman may be a very smart and resourceful young man, but he has no knowledge whatsoever of his location and will not be able to tell you any information. It is simply an opportunity for you to be reassured that your son is safe and that I am continuing to uphold my end of the deal. As you can imagine Roman is understandably quite scared. He has been calling for you, it is rather heartbreaking Mr. Castle, it really is. Your son clearly loves you very much, his superhero I understand?"

Castle's anger swelled up again, he could imagine Rome's voice echoing in his mind, he could hear Rome's anguished cries and it ripped at his heart.

"Why are you doing this? He is a ten-year-old kid, how can you do this to him? He's innocent! He's a child!"

"He's your child Mr. Castle. And as for the why, I believe I have explained my plan rather well thus far. I do hope you are as smart as your books have shown you to be."

There was a pause and Castle could feel the tone, the caller was getting ready to hang up. But Castle wasn't ready to let him go, he needed to see Rome, or at least hear his son.

"Wait…please"

"Yes Mr. Castle?"

"I want to talk to Rome."

"We have been over that Mr. Castle."

"I don't care I need to hear his voice, please."

"Do you not think that it is a little cruel Mr. Castle a little selfish on your part, to have Roman call out to you, not only will it cause him more grief, but imagine what it will do to you?"

Castle took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart

"Look, his phone…it has an app for video chatting. Please, I am begging you. You said he's scared; let me talk to him, calm him down, please. He's only ten, just let me talk to my son please."

The caller seemed to ponder this for a moment,

"Fine Mr. Castle. I am not without compassion. I am not a cruel man. In fact, I would like nothing more than to see father and son reunited. Give me one moment to access this app that you mentioned."

Quickly Castle hit the face-time app on his own phone and waited for Rome's phone to connect. It took a second to load and when it finally did Castle looked at the scene in front of him.

It was black, pitch black and Castle couldn't make out any markings or telltale signs of the location. A light came on, illuminating a small area, it was hanging over a large dog crate and sitting inside the crate, hands secured behind his back…sat Rome scared and crying.

Despite the small screen, Castle was able to look Rome over at least a little bit, he looked okay, but he looked so scared. Castle felt anger wash all over his body, where relief should have been. The sight of his son…his little boy in a dog crate bound was infuriating.

Rome looked up realizing that there was a phone in front of him, it was hard to see through the bars and the dim light, but Castle saw life and light return to Rome's eyes as he recognized the person on the other end of the phone call.

"DADDY!" He shouted "dad!" he started crying again and Castle felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest, he felt his own will breaking, he just wanted to swoop in and save Rome, be the hero that Rome saw him as.

"Romey, shh, shhh," Castle said trying to sooth Rome's tears as if he could actually reach out and do that. His own voice was cracking as tears began running down his own face. He also forgot that Rome couldn't hear him, he just wanted to scoop Rome up in a big hug and tell him it was okay, that everything would be okay.

Quickly Castle handed Alexis the phone, she was also crying, she had been trying to stay strong, but seeing her brother in that state broke her right down.

"Dad." She choked out

"It's okay pumpkin, it'll be okay" Castle tried to reassure her "just hold the phone steady, I have to sign to your brother…good girl."

"Daddy, I'm scared!" Rome whimpered. "I just wanna come home,"

Castle signed carefully, speaking as well just in case by some miracle Rome's hearing returned.

"I know kiddo," he signed "I'm going to get you home…"

"Why am I here? Please, I just want to g'ome. Dad, I didn't do anything."

"No you didn't do anything Romey, I know I don't know why this is happening but I will do everything I can to get you back soon. I will come get you. I need you to be safe, strong, and smart, you have to be smart most of all."

"I'm too scared, I can't."

"You have to be Romey, you're the bravest of the brave, my…my Dr. Watson. I'll come for you I swear I will." Castle paused trying to hide his tears, he hoped Rome couldn't see that far, he smiled gently and signed only 'I love you.'

Rome scooted to the door of the cage trying to get as close to his dad as possible, he wanted so desperately to hear his dad's voice, the signing wasn't enough. He wanted his dad and sister and gram and mom…he wanted to return the sign, his hands were twitching as he instinctively wanted to sign, but of course, he couldn't, he sniffed back his tears, nodding.

"I…I love you too dad,"

Suddenly the face time ended. Quickly Castle grabbed the phone from Alexis, just in time to hear:

"There you are Mr. Castle, I have upheld my promise you were able to speak to your son. I do hope you are ready for our little adventure. You will hear from me in two hours, please keep this line open and do remember no one else is to be involved."

With that final instruction, the line went dead.

Castle slumped to the couch, his head in his hands. He couldn't believe this was happening…he had to be still asleep, still dreaming…no not dreaming, having a nightmare.

It was only when Alexis began yelling at him and shaking his arm, did Castle come back to reality.

"Dad, what is going on!?" Alexis exclaimed, her cheeks wet with tears.

Castle wasn't entirely sure himself…and he definitely wasn't sure what to say to his teenage daughter.

"Ro…Rome…kidnapped…" he managed to stutter "Nikki Heat, Derrick Storm…story." before he could explain further, Castle felt violently ill, sick to his stomach, he bolted past Alexis to the hall bathroom, just in time as his breakfast and lunch came up.

He slumped to the floor next to the toilet bowl, his whole body going weak, all he could see was Rome sitting in a cage…a dog cage, tied up, in pain and scared to death and not being able to do anything to save him, not even able to reassure him.

"Daddy?" Alexis whimpered from the doorway "Dad, I don…dodon't understand, who is doing this? Why?"

"Pumpkin I don't have any answers…"

Castle felt his chest tightened and he couldn't help, try as he might, the heavy sobs that washed over him, he heaved and cried harder than he had ever done.

How could this happen, how could he let Rome be that vulnerable that someone could snatch him…and to make it worse the guy wasn't demanding money, no ransom, which Castle would pay, he would pay any amount to get his son back.

All this sonuvbitch wanted was a story…a story for his son's life. Castle didn't even know where to begin…how was he supposed to write a damn story while his son's life was in danger….

"Romey…" Castle moaned between sobs.

Alexis stared at her father, her own tears streaking down her cheeks, two hours, that was what the man had said, two hours he would call back, what if he called back and Castle was still in this state?

They needed help, they needed Detective Beckett, knowing she was about to worry her father even more and probably push him right over the edge, Alexis weighed the lesser of two evils. She went to the hall closet grabbed her raincoat and purse.

Alexis softly closed the door to the loft as she left, trying to stop the little click that always sounded for no apparent reason.

This time was no exception. She closed her eyes, and held her breath, listening out for any indication that her father also heard it.

Silence.

XXX

                                                                              

 


	3. Chapter 3

The man stood over the cage again and looked at Rome expectantly. He took the battery out of Rome's phone and making sure Rome saw this clearly, he put it in his pocket.

"Ah, now Roman, do I have your undivided attention?" the man asked he was still hard to follow, Rome was really struggling to read his lips, between the poor light and Rome's blurry vision from his tears. But Rome was good at filling in the blank spots and this was no different. "It is typically polite when one asks a question to respond to it with an answer."

Rome bit his lip hard, fighting back his tears. He nodded

"Ye…yes."

"Good boy," the man paused "now let me explain how this is going to work. I am giving your father the story of his career; it will put him on a pedestal that no other author could possibly reach. Why a hundred years from now people will talk about Richard Castle like they do of Dickens, Doyle, and Poe today."

Rome glared at the man, he felt defiant all of a sudden, he felt a sudden surge of courage, the need to stand up for his father.

"My dad doesn't need you to give him a story!" Rome interrupted loudly "he's a bestselling author all on his own. He has written twenty-six bestselling novels on his own! Why would he want your help?"

The man smacked the top of the cage hard and Rome ducked back from it. Begging silently to himself that he would not cry anymore, crying wasn't going to get him out of this mess, be strong, be safe, be smart...

"I beg to differ Roman, and I do not tolerate rudeness. Your father may put up with and even encourage your behavior, but I will not. I believe you need some extra time to reflect on your attitude. I have heard that you are not afraid of the dark, well we will certainly see if that is true. Please make yourself comfortable Roman, your time out begins now."

The lights went out again, once again leaving Rome in total darkness.

He felt something cold tap against his wrist, in between his hand and the zip-tie, he knew that material, it was his bracelet, whoever had locked him in this crate had taken his backpack, his hat, his shoes, even his jacket, but they hadn't taken the graduation present from his parents, a metal charm like a medical tag, that had his signature engraved on one side and the words 'our artist 6/16/2009, so proud of you, love mom and dad'. The one piece of jewelry felt like home, it felt comforting, Rome was able to trace the engraving with his finger, feeling the words, 'mom and dad' over and over.

He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to leave the small prison; he let it be with his dad. He could feel his dad holding him tight, his head up against his father's chest, the rumbling of his voice echoing in his mind.

Rome could hear his dad singing to him in his head…their song from when Rome was little, Castle would sing the song and dance around the loft with Rome in his arms, rocking him gently until Rome, usually sick with an ear infection or colic, would fall asleep.

"Close…close your eyes, have no fear…the monster's gone he's on the run and your daddy's…here…beautiful…beautiful…beautiful boy…Before you go to sleep…say a little prayer, every day in every way it's getting better and better."

Rome's voice cracked a little, sniffing back his tears, trying to sing the whole song, but his mind was getting jumbled, he couldn't remember all the lyrics…He carefully laid down, curling his small body into a tight ball, it was uncomfortable, his arms still behind him as the zip-tie cut into his wrists...but even that faded from his subconscious. He could feel his dad's arms around him, he was holding him close, the monster was gone…his daddy was here, he wasn't in a cage anymore he was home, safe in his bed…dad was tucking him in for the night, all tight and warm, Balto his favorite stuffed animal tucked in next to him, there to protect him just like dad. Alexis was just down the hall asleep, gram in her room…he was home and he was safe…

"beautiful, beautiful, beautiful…beautiful…" Slowly Rome started to fall asleep, his dad's lullaby playing in his mind as exhaustion finally took hold.

XXX

 

                                                                           

Alexis breathed out and turned to head for the elevator. It wasn't until she was outside on the sidewalk that her mind started to work in overdrive.

Her brother was missing. No, not missing; someone knew where he was. He was kidnapped. Snatched. Taken. He was a hostage! All because some deranged man had an obsession with her dad's novels.

Alexis had grown up with all the strange quirks that came with his job; occupational hazards. Fans stopping them in the street, asking for autographs in restaurants, taking photos of them on the way to school, and although it could get weird sometimes, both her and Rome were used to it. In fact, they used to smirk and make a game out of these meetings with fans; how many times their dad laughed, made some kind of innuendo, or was asked to sign various body parts.

They had a tally; guess which body part he was asked to sign most? It was a little gross but he always was careful when Rome and her were around; he had grown up with them in a way and knew more boundaries than he did before Alexis was born. Yes, there had been some fans that were crazier than others, but this, well, this was terrifying.

Alexis had turned left and was walking down the block, street-lamps illuminating the way. She walked quickly and with purpose; there were not many 15 year old girls out at this time of night and she wanted to blend in. Up until now she had been under the impression that her family lived in a very safe neighbourhood, but now she was scared. She darted her eyes to the side on the lookout for anything or anyone suspicious.

Five blocks down, fifteen to go.

The rain had started to fall now. Lightly, but enough to dampen her hair; her cheeks were already wet from her tears. They wouldn't stop. She could just hear her brother screaming "DADDY" over and over again. He sounded so scared, so helpless, so young. She needed to find him, she needed to bring him home.

It was her job as the older sister to watch out for him, a role that was even more important as his hearing decreased over the years, and she had failed. Alexis was used to succeeding in everything; awards, trophies, prizes, recognition, but none of that mattered if she never saw Rome again. That is why she left the loft. Detective Beckett would help, she would have to.

Her dad was in pieces; completely broken. He would not be thinking clearly, and Alexis was finding it harder and harder to stay in control of her own emotions and her own thoughts. She had read all of the Richard Castle novels; she knew what kind of sadistic, twisted murderers were out there, and what if one of them had Rome now?

The kidnapper wanted a story worthy of Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm, does that mean that he is the uber-villain? He needs more than one force to bring him down? What chance does Rome have against that? A ten-year-old boy? No. She couldn't think like that.

Alexis shook her head, brushed more tears from her eyes, and set her jaw. Seventeen blocks down, 3 to go.

The rain was falling harder now and the young Castle broke into a run. Adrenaline coursed through her body; all the emotion, anxiety, fear of the past hour pounding the sidewalk. She had to be strong because right now, her dad and her brother couldn't. Never had Alexis seen her dad like that.

Of course, she had seen him cry, get angry; he would surely see him angry at her when she got home but that was a price worth paying. He looked helpless, and that was something she never wanted to see in his eyes again. As a kid, her dad was their sole protector, their mother, their friend, and their father; their everything. Well, now they needed someone else and Alexis only hoped that Detective Beckett could play the role of Nikki Heat and get her brother back.

As she rounded the last corner, and Beckett's apartment building came into sight, Alexis skidded to a halt. She suddenly remembered that, as a Castle, she may not be welcome there. Were her dad and the detective even friends anymore? She wasn't stupid; she knew that something happened between the partners. Her dad had tried to hide it, put on a happy façade, but she saw through it. His phone never rang anymore, he was never summoned to a murder scene at all hours, and he spent all his time in his study instead of at the precinct

What if Beckett said no? What if she didn't care? Alexis was used to the women of her father's life coming and going as they pleased, what if she was no different? Completely drained now, Alexis made her way up the detective's floor. She hesitated when she got to the front door. All she wanted was Rome; all she could see was her brother in that cage, petrified. She felt numb.

x-x-x-x-x-x-

 

                                                         

"Alexis!" Detective Beckett exclaimed in shock when she opened the door; this was the last person she expected at this time of night. When she first heard the timid knock, she half expected it to be Castle; that he had once again ignored her orders and barged in where he was not welcome. She was pissed as hell at him; still is, and not to mention hurt.

For a second she felt a jolt of anger curse through her body at the idea that he had sent his daughter on his behalf; like some kind of peace offering. However she quickly dismissed this idea when she took a good look at the young girl in front of her; the bedraggled tentacles of red hair, wet from the rain lashing down outside, the pea green coat that usually only accentuated the bright personality of the wearer, but at this moment seemed to only mute and mock. Alexis' face was cast down, studying the hallway floor.

"What are you doing here?" Besides a few missed calls a day or so ago from Castle, she hadn't heard or seen him in weeks. For the life of her, she couldn't conjure up her detective skills at 11 pm on a Thursday night to try and figure out why his daughter could possibly be here. What she could feel was the growing unease, the mild panic settling in her stomach.

Alexis raised her head to look at the Detective and Kate could now see the blood-shot eyes, the red cheeks, and tracks of recent tears. Maybe a teenage drama? No, her gut had not deserted her, and it was reminding her that this was not going to be the case.

"Hey, come in, come in," she ushered Alexis into the apartment and closed the door behind them. When she turned, the teen was standing not a foot or two away, staring straight ahead; eyes glazed over, not seeing anything at all.

"Alexis" she put a hand on the top of the girl's arm to turn her towards her; "what's going on?" Her tone was soft but had an interrogative edge.

"It's Rome," her voice was quiet but steady. Alexis paused, trying to stay in control.

Beckett's mind was still coming up empty. A white, clean, clear murder board of blankness.

"He's been kidnapped"

Still nothing.

Then the cogs whirled into action.

Xxx


	4. Chapter 4

The detective lingered slightly behind as Alexis searched for her key to the apartment in her bag. Her hands were shaking slightly, from sheer emotional exhaustion, and probably the cold.

Although Beckett's mind was on Rome and his kidnapping, she hadn't forgotten that the last time she saw Castle, she had cut all ties with him. They were over. Done.

And yet here she was. If she was honest with herself, she was extremely apprehensive about what may be on the other side of the door. An angry man? A distraught father? A vengeful son? A drunk? Beckett shuddered. She would take anything but the latter. She could console, yell, reason, even physically restrain, but she had had enough of one drunk man in her life. Sedate, incoherent, stubborn; how does a cop deal with that? She knew everyone handled situations differently, and if she were a betting woman then she would put money on Castle being hell-bent on running around the city, placing money in unmarked bags, on some wild goose chase. He would have to feel like he is doing something.

She didn't need to wait long before she found out exactly what she would be facing, as Alexis had barely put the key in the lock before the door swung open.

"Alexis!"

Red-faced, his dark hair sticking up in all directions from frantic hands running through it, eyes wild. He reached out to his daughter, pulling her tightly into his chest, squeezing hard. He rested his head on the top of hers and closed his eyes, breathing her in, just for a second.

Kate silently observed the pair; it wasn't often that she had gotten to see his serious side, his fatherly side. She could see how harried he looked, the lines on his face, the bags under his eyes. The guy looked like he hadn't slept for days even though Beckett had the feeling this had only been going on for a few hours.

"Dad, need to breathe" Alexis' muffled protest to the onslaught would have been funny if it wasn't for the situation. Castle grabbed hold of her upper arms and held her out at arms-length.

"Where the hell have you been? Have you any idea how worried I was? Your brother is missing and when I go to check on you, you are no-where to be found!" He gives her a slight shake, clearly trying to reign in his anger, worry, and relief.

"I'm sorry, but we needed help, Dad. We need Beckett."

It was at that moment that Castle realized the detective was in the doorway. He looked shocked, but was that also a look of relief that crossed his face? Beckett wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She didn't want the fate of his son to be solely in her hands; for the family to put all of their hope into her.

"Hi," she said lamely and gave him a small smile.

He opened his mouth. Then seemed to think better and closed it again, settling for a small smile back. The two ex-partners stared at each other for a few moments, both not knowing where to begin. Castle snapped out of it first and rounded back on Alexis.

"You" he pointed a finger at her "are never to do that to me again you hear? If you weren't already stuck in the loft for security reasons then I would ground you, understand?"

Alexis looked a bit taken aback. She was usually the disciplinarian in the family. She looked down and nodded before throwing her arms back around him, a sob escaping.

"I know honey, I know, it will be okay I promise" Castle lifted her off the ground, tightening the embrace, consoling her the best he could.

"I miss him daddy" she whispered into his shoulder.

"I do too pumpkin." He looked over at Beckett, still standing awkwardly by the door. He gestured with a nod of his head for her to come in, which she did and closed the door.

"I'll just go tuck her in, then we can talk." The end sounded more like a question though; a little hesitant.

"Of course, I'll make us some coffee"

Xxx

Beckett could hear Castle moving around upstairs, the shutting of doors, the muffled sounds of talking. He was taking his time, and she didn't blame him; one of his children had been kidnapped, of course, he was going to want to keep Alexis close, make sure she was safe. She took this moment to take a breath and look around the loft. She had been here before, and it was full of life; the warmth of family. Martha sweeping around the place reciting lines from some play, Castle and the kids playing laser tag, but now it was cold and quiet. The once orange haze that engulfed the place had turned blue; cold and unwelcoming.

The warm coffee that she had just brewed made little difference to the ice that had settled in her stomach. As a detective she could usually shield herself from the feel of an environment; she had seen too many awful things, disturbing, violent things. It was bad enough that on the walk up to a crime scene she always thought of her mother, luckily she had learned to push that back once she arrived, allowing herself only to assess the scene in front of her; practical not emotional. This felt different though. She knew this place when it was full of light and laughter, she had the contrast, and she personally knew the victim.

No, she quickly shook her head and screwed her eyes shut. NO. She couldn't use the word victim. Rome wasn't dead. Then Rome's face entered her mind, always smiling, the miniature version of his father, his eyes bright blue like his dad's full of life, that was how she wanted to picture him, and that was how she wanted to get him back to his father

Castle appeared at the bottom of the stairs, eyes red and puffy, but dry. He must have used the time that Alexis was gone to fall apart, and now he has had to be strong for his daughter, he had to be the father again.

He walked over to the counter and Beckett could see some kind of stuffed animal, maybe a wolf clutched tightly in his left fist. Once in the kitchen he gratefully took the coffee filled mug she held out. He lifted his eyes hesitantly to hers.

"Beckett…" he began, his voice remorseful but broken. She knew where he was going, what he was about to bring up and she couldn't think about that today. She put up a hand to stop him.

"Don't."

"I was trying to…" he tried to continue but once again she cut him off.

"I know, but I am still so pissed at you."

"Then why are you here? You don't have to be. You said we were over, you have ignored all my calls."

"We will deal with what happened, believe me, but your son is more important than all that. Whatever is between us we can put that aside for now."

Castle looked unconvinced but gave her a curt nod. He was grateful that they didn't have to hash out his actions towards her mother's death; there was only enough room for one trauma in his mind. Beckett stared at the wolf in Castle's hands, a clearly well-loved creature, and he seemed to be holding onto it for dear life, absentmindedly turning it over and over. She had a pretty good guess who it belonged too.

                                                                                

"Rome?" she asked carefully, Castle took a sharp deep breath and nodded.

"His favorite stuffed animal, he's had it since he was two. He sleeps with it every night; they've only been apart once…when he was three. We had to leave the loft for a few days, fumigated or painting I can't remember now. I thought I had everything the kids needed, I booked a kid-friendly hotel, it was going to be a fun adventure. Both Alexis and Rome were excited…especially with the swimming pool. I had Alexis' Monkey Bunkey, toys for them, books, everything…except for Balto, left him behind. Rome cried for two days straight until we could get back to the loft."

Castle gave a sarcastic chuckle "never made that mistake again, he would bring Balto everywhere from then on, the park, the zoo, his ENT appointments. He's starting to get to the age where he doesn't want to admit that he still needs Balto, but he does, he has such a hard time sleeping without him, he's restless. He even hides him in his backpack when he goes to sleepovers even when he went to camp this summer, Balto was in his pillowcase. When I go check on him in the middle of the night, there's Balto tucked under his arm."

Castle choked back a sob and Beckett noticed how much Castle was trying to not say Rome's name, knowing that made it real…made the tears return.

"He must be so scared…he's only ten, he's almost deaf… what kind of odds does he have?"

"Castle" Beckett reprimanded gently "you can't think like that, you know that you know you will only drive yourself mad coming up with worst-case scenarios," Castle opened his mouth to argue but Beckett shook her head "and coming up with the what ifs won't make it better either. It won't get Rome back to you any faster wondering if you had been there if you could have stopped it."

Beckett paused "Rome is smart, he's a mini you all the trouble you've managed to get yourself into, you always manage to find a creative and pretty imaginative way out, I have no doubt that Rome is the same way, he acts like you who's to say he doesn't think like you too. I have never seen a father and son so identical and Rome needs you to be smart and strong Rick. Rome needs that from you."

Rome. Rome. God, Roman, his son. He could feel a fresh round of tears welling up and he put his head on the counter in an effort to stall them, Balto tucked under his chest. He couldn't cry anymore, that doesn't help anyone. A soft hand was placed on his back and he almost lost it. Gentle circles rubbed round and round, and a murmur reached his ears;

"We will get him back Castle, I promise"

I promise. A Detective Beckett promise; a given fact. That was the best news he had heard all day. He let out a shaky breath and brought his head up to see a tentative smile on her face. Castle scrubbed at his face, trying to get rid of the emotion and turn it into determinedness.

"Castle, I need you to start at the beginning."

Xxx

"And you didn't recognize the caller's voice at all?" Beckett asked when Castle finished telling her everything that had happened, starting when he woke up and realized he was running late to pick Rome up from karate.

"Not at all, no accent, like he's spent years trying to cover it up. He spoke like a college professor." Castle replied running his hand through his hair, before tightening his grip on Balto.

"Castle you need to think have you seen anyone around that you don't know? Around the loft or the school?"

Castle shook his head

"No, nothing out the ordinary."

"Has Alexis or Rome mentioned anything, feeling like someone was watching them or following them?"

Castle stood up quickly

"no," he exclaimed louder than he meant to "nothing at all, everything has been the same old same old."

"Castle, breathe, please."

"Daddy?"

Castle and Beckett looked at each other then looked up at the stairs. Standing at the top in her PJs rubbing her eyes was Alexis. She no longer looked like a fifteen nearly sixteen-year-old teenager, she looked like a young child, which given the circumstances was understandable.

"Pumpkin?" Castle asked walking over to the stairs "are you okay?"

"Can't sleep dad," Alexis replied, she shifted uncomfortably and looked at Balto, still clutched in her dad's hand. "Daddy, can I sleep with Balto tonight please?" she paused "I know it's silly, but I-"

Castle shook his head and mounted the stairs

"It's not silly kiddo," he handed the stuffed wolf to Alexis and she wrapped her arms around its worn body, cradling it close under her chin. "Come on, I'll tuck you back in." he led her back down the hall to her room, neither of them looking at Rome's door which was open just a crack.

In her room, Alexis slid into bed and curled up, clutching Balto. Castle sat down on the bed next to her and brushed her hair back.

"He must be so scared dad," Alexis said, her voice muffled by her pillow. Castle took a deep breath, Alexis relaying his exact thoughts

"We'll get him home Pumpkin."

Alexis nodded sniffling a little, Castle rubbed her back gently as her sniffling slowed down and she fell back asleep.

He headed to towards the stairs again and hesitated at Rome's door. He ran his hand over the large poster board that covered the door, Rome had drawn a picture of the Fat Lady from Harry Potter, whose portrait stood guard in front of the entrance to the Gryffindor dormitories, he had done it a few years before, but it was still impressive. Rome always said it was practice for when his Hogwarts letter came, so he would give a riddle and sometimes only let people in if they knew the answer.

"Oh Romey," Castle mumbled

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when the door to the loft opened below him and he heard the clicking of heels on the hardwood…

Martha was home.

"Detective Beckett?" she exclaimed, clearly surprised by the visitor "darling what are you doing here?" she paused "oh never mind that, it's wonderful to see you, how have you been?"

Castle moved to the top of the stairs and slowly descended them. Beckett looked up at him, clearly lost for words as Martha hugged her tight, his mother still blissfully unaware about the horror her son and grandchildren had been facing the last few hours…unaware that her grandson was not upstairs asleep in bed, but was being held captive somewhere in the city.

"Mother," Castle said weakly

"Oh Richard, I had the most wonderful evening, I ran into Celia Cambridge the casting director for the Trimont theatre, she said she has the role of a lifetime for me! Auditions are next we-" Martha stopped when she saw the pained look on both her son's face and his former partner. "Richard, Katherine? What is going on?"

Castle looked at Beckett, his stomach dropping faster by the minute.

"Mother," he said taking her hand and bringing her over to the couch "we need to talk,"

"Richard Castle what is going on," Martha exclaimed "are the kids"

"Alexis is fine, she's upstairs asleep,"

Martha narrowed her eyes

"Richard, where is Roman?"

Castle took a deep breath, holding his mother's hands tight, he couldn't say it, it was too real saying it. Beckett saw him struggling, she sat on the other side of Martha

"Martha, Rome's been kidnapped," she explained as gently as possible, Martha's face went pale, lost for words she looked at Castle, tears welling up in her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

                                                                                                          

 

Rome's stomach woke him up from his deep sleep. At first, he had forgotten what had transpired the night before, but now he remembered. He made a move to rub the sleep out of his eyes and realized he couldn't with his arms still behind his back.

It took some effort but carefully Rome sat up and looked around. The room was still pretty dark, but there had to be a widow somewhere nearby because it wasn't as dark as it had been before. Then Rome wasn't able to even see a foot in front of him, now he could at least see the cage in its entirety.

Rome's stomach growled again, louder this time; he was really hungry. Which worked in his favor...

The last time he had eaten, it had been dinner at Kevin's apartment, spaghetti, and meatballs. Rome could remember his entire day, something that had been escaping him for hours.

He had walked to Kevin's after school, stayed for a few hours than at a quarter of six he started for karate.

Rome closed his eyes tight; trying desperately to remember what happened next...how had he gone from Kevin's block to sitting in a dog crate, kidnapped?

The man who had bumped into him... He was on his cell phone not paying attention he had bumped into Rome then Rome has felt a cloth over his face... A sweet smelling cloth. Someone picking him up... Then nothing.

Rome felt the vibrations on the floor; he was beginning to recognize the footsteps and knew the man was coming.

"Ah, good you're awake; I trust you were able to reflect on your behavior and attitude last night?" Rome blinked surprised for a moment that he could hear...granted it was tough, he really had to listen carefully, like the volume on the TV was down low, but he could hear definitely better than the previous night. "Still in a defiant mood Roman?"

Rome shook his head quickly. His dad had told him to remember three things: be strong, be safe, and probably most important be smart. Rome knew the first two would be tough he was so scared he didn't think he could be strong which made staying safe tough, but Rome knew he could be smart in any situation.

He was a Castle he was Richard Castle's son he was genetically gifted with being resourceful and getting himself out of trouble as well as getting into it. He knew if he played along he might be treated better, he might even be able to get the kidnapper to drop his guard enough to escape.

"No sir," Rome said carefully "and I'm very sorry for being rude last night"

The man seemed surprised by this apology but pleased as he nodded.

"Excellent." He said "now Roman you and I are going to be partners for the time being. In fact, you are going to help your father find you. Don't you see he will have the greatest story of all time? I am not writing it for him; I am simply giving him the opportunity to let his own imagination work."

Rome bit his lip holding back on his comment the desire to defend his father was overwhelming, but he held back...be smart be smart.

"How?"

"You, my boy! You will design the clues that your father and his team will follow. I will tell you what to draw and you will create it." The man paused and smiled almost comfortingly but Rome wasn't fooled for a second. "Now first things first, you may call me M."

Rome suddenly had a James Bond flashback, all the Bond movies he had watched with his dad, he knew it wasn't in his best interest but he had to hold his breath to keep from giggling. M didn't seem to notice though.

"M" Rome said carefully "got it"

M reached over to the crate and did the combination on the lock, Rome tried to watch the numbers and pretended he wasn't but he was at such a bad angle he couldn't see the combination.

The lock snapped off and M held open the door, gesturing for Rome to scoot out.  
It took a lot of effort on Rome's part, he was extremely stiff and his legs didn't want to work right.

When he finally got out, M helped him to his feet and made sure he was stable before letting him go. His touch sent chills up and down Rome's spine.

"Now you must be hungry"

Rome nodded, his stomach growling louder than before. M reached behind Rome and undid the zip-tie Rome winced as the plastic that had been embedding itself in his wrists was finally loosened, the freedom actually hurt worse than the plastic.

Rome rubbed his wrists gently trying to soothe the pain; the indentation on his wrist made the pain that much worse.

M put a hand on Rome's shoulder and Rome tried not to wince away, as M guided him out of the room, down a long hallway and into another room that resembled his school's cafeteria.

Rome looked around trying to get an idea of where he was exactly but there was nothing to go on.

A warehouse... no couldn't be, a hotel? No not fancy enough even an abandoned hotel wouldn't look like this.

A factory...that made more sense it could be an abandoned factory, the smell made sense and the setup. Rome was positive, it smelled rusty, like old metal…a metal factory? M moved onto another room, with just a table, chair, and a sink.

M helped him sit in a chair where a bowl of cornflakes and a glass of water was already waiting for him. Despite how hungry he was Rome was hesitant to eat...they looked like regular cornflakes but...

He turned his attention to the water, it too looked normal but still. But he was so thirsty, his throat was raw and sore from all the crying the night before.

Carefully Rome picked up the cup it nearly slipped from his hands because his wrists were so weak, he had to hold it with two hands just to be sure he wouldn't drop it.

He took a sip and tried not to make a face, it tasted awful, like chlorine...but then it dawned on Rome... he had tasted this water before…

Alexis had done a science project on the drinking water of New York City a few years ago. She had tap water samples from all five of the boroughs and using Rome as her guinea pig she asked him to drink different glasses of water and write down the one he liked the best and liked the least and explain why.

Alexis had him drink so much water that day, that not only was Rome practically living in the bathroom the rest of the night, but he could expertly tell the difference between water from all over New York City, from Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, and of course Manhattan.

He knew that some boroughs had experimented with the drinking water and had actually put fluoride in it. But there were only two of the five that had kept with this policy. Queens and the Bronx.

If this water came from the tap, then Rome had to be in a factory in one of those two boroughs. It was a long shot, and Rome knew that he could possibly be wrong, but it was still a start.

"Now, when you have finished your breakfast, we will begin. You have a very important job to do."

Rome winced at that

"Thank you," he said softly, reaching forward to the bowl of cornflakes, there was no milk for them, but food was food and Rome was starving. He took a bite of the dry cereal and nearly choked as the pieces scratched his already raw throat. He quickly drank some of the nasty water to wash it down, coughing loudly.

He wasn't going to be able to eat for a while, and the water was so gross he really didn't want to drink anymore, blinking back tears, Rome pushed the cereal bowl away from him.

M crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not liking what he had just witnessed, and unlike his father, who would have been all over him in a second whapping his back gently to make sure he wasn't choking, M made no such effort.

"Not hungry I take it?" M asked Rome rubbed his throat and M nodded, understanding "well not to put blame, Roman, but that is entirely your own fault."

Rome wanted to argue, it went against every part of his being to keep his mouth shut as he was blamed for something that wasn't his fault something he had no control over, he wanted to defend himself, but he stayed quiet.

"Now, let us get started shall we, if you are done with breakfast, no time to waste," M said, he took the bowl of cereal and glass of water away and replaced them with a sketchpad.

Rome couldn't help it, he smiled, he reached forward and brushed his fingers over the familiar paper material, finally something recognizable, something that he loved, something that was like home, something that always no matter what made him feel better…Rome never felt calmer than when he had a sketchbook in his lap and a pencil in hand.

M placed a pencil, a felt pen, and a charcoal pencil next to the sketchpad. Rome reached over and picked up the utensil he most favored.

Being lefty, it always got all over his hand, but Rome loved using charcoal to do his sketches, he liked the way it felt as he sketched and the final product it produced.

"How are your landscapes, Roman?" M asked

"Cartoon or real?" Rome asked seriously, he could do both and wanted to be clear on the one M wanted.

"Well, let's make this interesting and a little difficult for your father and his team. A cartoon if you please, or a comic scene if you prefer."

The look on M's face when he said comic, Rome had seen that look before but he couldn't remember where, he had seen that sneer that looks of disapproval before, but where? Rome thought about it hard, it wasn't just the look he recognized, it was the man too, he knew M…sort of he had seen him before, talked to him before, something to do with comic books, but what was it and when?

"Of…of what?" Rome asked, his mind still in overdrive trying to think of where he had seen M before.

"Washington Square. I would prefer if you include the arch. I will let you decide what to include, but the Arch must be in the picture also" M reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph, a homeless guy sitting on a rug, just under the arch, Rome looked at it confused then looked at M for an explanation "this man is to be included in the drawing as well, in this exact spot, no alteration on this particular item, the rest is at your discretion. I will allow you one hour to complete the work, Roman. I do hope you are better with deadlines then your father. Also, please do not waste time looking for a way out, I can assure you, you will not find one." And without another word, M left the small room, the door clicking behind him, locking in place.

Despite M's warning, the first thing Rome did was look for an escape route. The door was locked and there was no handle on this side of the door. So that wouldn't help.

Rome looked around carefully taking in the entire room and committing it to memory, the only other things in the room besides the table chair and bright lights was a sink. Rome ran the tap water and leaned on the sink to taste it, just to be sure that the gross water from the cup had come from this tap…it had.

The only thing in the room that stood out to Rome was a vent, about four feet above his head.

Quickly and quietly Rome pulled the metal chair over to the vent and carefully climbed onto it. His legs were still weak from the crate and the cut on his foot was making it hard to put any amount of weight on it.

For a brief second Rome wondered if M would notice the cut on his foot and maybe take the time to put medicine on it and bandage it up before it got infected. It was starting to look a little funky…maybe he better wash it out in the sink…

Quickly Rome shook his head, if he was able to get out of here, his dad would take care of his cut.

Rome stood on his tiptoes reaching for the vent, he could just reach it and it was certainly big enough for him to fit inside. But would he be strong enough to pull himself up into it, and that was even if he could get the cover off.

In gym class Rome was a great climber, he could scurry up the ropes course faster than any of his classmates and had held the title with the best time in the rope course for three years in a row for the state-mandated physical fitness test.

But this was different and Rome knew it. He took a deep breath and put all his weight into it, trying to pull the cover down, even if he couldn't get very far in the vent, M wouldn't be able to follow him inside, no adult could, not even a teenager like Alexis, Rome was just small enough to get in there.

Rome's arms began screaming in pain as his wrists struggled to support his weight, not that it mattered, the vent wasn't budging. Rome's foot sent a wave of pain shooting through his body as he stepped on it wrong and he let go of the vent as he lost his balance crashing hard to the floor.

"Ow, ow, OW!" Rome breathed, he shoved his knuckle into his mouth to keep from crying out and bringing M back.

Rome really didn't want to accept defeat, he wanted another go at that vent, but he realized his time to complete the drawing was running out, he had to get that done.

Grumbling, Rome limped back to the table, dragging the chair with him. His metal bracelet tapped the metal chair and the vibration caught his attention, his bracelet…M hadn't taken it off, but there was still time for him to do just that.

Take a deep breath, Rome unclipped his bracelet and slid it off. He ran his finger down the engraving that said 'mom and dad'. This bracelet was important to him, it kept him connected to his parents, to home. M would not take it from him, not use it against him. So after looking at it once more, Rome slid it into his pocket. He felt it tapping against his leg, reminding him that it was there, but safe and out of sight from M.

He sat down and stared at the paper, M said he wanted a cartoon scene of Washington Square, did that mean they were near Fifth Avenue? Rome shook his head eradicating that idea, M wanted this whole thing to be a game…he wouldn't make it that easy for Castle and the team, he would probably have Rome draw places all over the city leading the team on a wild goose chase following clues and Rome couldn't forget the tap water, that was not Manhattan water, he was sure of it.

Rome's eyes went wide…clues…what if he left clues IN the clues, ones that only his dad would understand, breadcrumbs… he could tell his dad as much as he knew about where he was without letting M know…he had to be subtle about it, but Rome knew he could pull it off. He just had to think how to do it…then it hit him as he grinned feeling better than he had what felt like years…sound bubbles, the sky, plenty of things that would look perfectly normal in a comic strip or a cartoon, but could fit in as clues.

Quickly Rome closed his eyes and pictured Washington Square, before he put pencil to paper, sketching, adding as much to the cartoon as he could, not skimping on the detail at all.

His main hurdle was how to add in something to represent Queens and the Bronx, and of course an old factory. It had to be subtle but it couldn't be too subtle, Rome didn't know how observant his father would be…with this case at least. But Rome knew he had to trust his father to figure things out…his dad could follow his trail of breadcrumbs.

The Bronx turned out to be the easiest thing to put in there. He parked a car just outside the square near the Arch, not just any car, but a Ferrari like his dad's, he made sure it's bumper was facing the scene. He put a speech bubble over the car that said

Honk, honk and a bumper sticker on the car itself that read 'Save the North American Wolf' he knew his dad would study the drawing carefully, and Rome hoped he would recognize the bumper sticker…remember their last trip to the Bronx Zoo, where Rome wanted to buy that exact bumper sticker and put it on his dad's Ferrari.

Rome hoped his dad would connect the bumper sticker with the Bronx Zoo, the honks that rhymed with Bronx and hopefully would know that was one of the two places Rome might be. He hoped his dad would know that there would be no accidents…in any of Rome's drawings in the past everything had a purpose, this was no different. If Rome put something in there, it had a reason.

Queens was a little different, it was a little tricky until Rome thought it over, he remember all the chess tournaments his dad had taken him to see, Rome loved the game of chess, he wasn't great at it and had yet to beat even his sister, but he liked it…and liked watching the speed chess at Washington Square.

So Rome drew a guy carrying a chess board, heading towards the line of tables for a game, but as he was walking, Rome had a white Queen piece, falling out of the box heading towards the ground. To draw his dad's attention to the guy, he drew a hat on him, but not just any hat, he drew his Rough Rider's hat, the one his dad had helped him buy at the museum the previous spring, a replica of Teddy Roosevelt's.

The real problem came with getting a factory in there, how was he supposed to tell his dad he was pretty sure he was being held in an old factory, but not let M know. Nothing Rome thought of seemed plausible…or subtle enough…

Until it dawned on him and he grinned. He changed the season of the picture from a summer scene to a fall scene, like right around Halloween, his dad's favorite holiday. He made a little sign advertising for a haunted house called the 'Factory of Terror'.

It seemed innocent enough and it was at an angle so unless you looked at it really carefully you wouldn't notice it. It was also something that only Castle would really notice, because Rome drew the outline of Count Olaf on the advertisement…Count Olaf from Nosferatu: A Symphony of Terror, one of his dad's favorite movies.

Even though Rome knew he was pushing his luck with this drawing, he wanted to add one more thing to pass a message to his dad, telling him he was okay. He wanted it to be specific and personal, give his dad hope.

For as long as Rome could remember, his dad's favorite nickname for him had been Dr. Watson, Rome couldn't remember why his dad started calling him that but it had stuck, he had other nicknames, but Dr. Watson or even Doc was the one Castle used the most.

Rome, remembering the trailer he had seen at the movies, previewing a new movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law…Sherlock Holmes, so Rome carefully sketched a bus in the background of the scene, going past the bumper sticker car, it was hard to make out and that was what Rome wanted, but it was the tail end of the billboard on the bus, 'Jude Law', he just hoped his dad remembered that Jude Law was playing Dr. Watson.

Rome nodded, it was subtle enough he hoped, but it was the message he wanted, letting Sherlock Holmes that Dr. Watson was okay, at least that was the message he hoped got out.

The door suddenly clicked and burst open, making Rome jump with fright, right out of his seat.

"I do hope you have finished Roman, you have had ample time."

Rome sighed nodding, he was really getting sick of this guy using his full name. He pushed the pad to M who studied it carefully.

Rome, because of his hearing loss was good at reading facial expressions watched M's face for any sign of suspicion or displeasure, but M seemed very satisfied with Rome's work, even impressed.

"I didn't…didn't know how much detail you wanted," Rome explained

"This is exactly what I was looking for my boy, Excellent work, the Arch is prominent you have caught the scene in great detail, each part of this drawing tells a story, wonderful." M paused; he carefully ripped Rome's drawing out of the pad, and rolled it up, before he stuck a rubber band around it and placed it in the pocket of his oversized coat. "Well my boy, I must dash, need to make sure this is waiting for your father and his team on time. So back you go."

Rome felt his stomach drop as fear washed over him, he had a feeling he knew what M meant by 'back you go', he meant back to the crate.

"Please, I'll be good I'll stay right here, please I don't want to go back to the crate… please, sir." Rome begged, but M wasn't going to be swayed by the boy's begging.

"I wish I could trust you Roman, but you did disobey me by looking for a way out after I strictly said not to."

Rome's heart was going a mile a minute, his whole body was shaking, he looked past M towards the open door, wondering if he could make a break for it, M was old, how fast could he possibly be…but then Rome remembered his foot, he wouldn't be very fast himself…not to mention he didn't have shoes on…how far would he get without shoes…and not knowing where he was going…But Rome was willing to try. Try again, fail again, fail better…

He took a deep breath and as M moved towards him he took off, ducking under the old man's arms and heading towards the door.

He was trying to run as fast as he could, but just he feared, his foot slowed him down as M easily reached him, grabbing him around the waist and lifting him off the floor, forcing his arms back behind him, securing them with the zip-tie. Rome couldn't help but yelp as the plastic dug back into his already wounded wrists.

"NO!" Rome screamed, "no, come on please, let me go I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

M didn't reply, in fact, if Rome didn't know better he'd swear the old man was laughing at his futile attempt to escape.

M tried to force Rome to walk on his own, but when he refused, fighting M's push as much as possible, M did the logical thing, he reached down and picked Rome back up and carried him kicking and screaming down the corridor.

"Now Roman, this is how a toddler behaves during a tantrum, not a ten-year-old mature young man such as yourself."

"Let me go, let me go I just want to go home please, I just wanna go home, I want my dad!" Rome knew struggling wasn't going to get him anywhere. "I did what you asked I drew your stupid picture, let me go, please! Just let me go!"

He was small and as his dad always joked portable, the limited water, nothing to eat, and the pain in his foot and wrists made him feel weakened, but he wasn't going to give in, he would fight this as long as he could, he would not accept defeat. This was especially true when he saw the crate and instinct took over, he wasn't going back in there, not without a fight.

"Come now Roman, it won't do you any good to fight; all you will manage to do is hurt yourself."

"No, I won't go in! Let me go let me go!" Rome kicked at the air hoping to hit M, using everything he had ever learned in karate, he struggled, he even bit at the air trying to get loose, he put his feet out wide to stop himself from going into the crate, it hurt his feet when M tried to force him in, but Rome saw the pain as proof he was still fighting a good fight…he was still defiant and wouldn't give in.

Finally, M did something that Rome didn't expect; he covered Rome's entire face with his hand, blocking his nose and his mouth.

Suddenly Rome couldn't breathe, his first instinct was to keep struggling to get away from M's grip, but he started feeling light-headed, he hadn't had a chance to take a breath before his oxygen was cut off, his body forced him to go limp, to conserve his air supply. This gave M the opportunity he needed to shove Rome into the crate shut the door.

Rome gasped, sucking in as much as he could, thankful to be able to breathe again. He felt like he had come close to death in that few seconds.

M shook his head angrily at Rome, reprimanding him with his eyes.

"I do hope that little episode was worth it Roman. I thought I made it perfectly clear last night that I would not tolerate any rudeness. Another time out I believe is in order, until you learn your lesson. I also don't believe you have earned supper for the evening."

M didn't say another word as he angrily stormed out of the room, Rome watched him go and saw he was limping, that gave Rome a little satisfaction, at least he had done some damage to M in the process.

Of course, he wasn't surprised when the light went out again, plunging him into darkness…as M slammed the door behind him.

Frustrated with himself, Rome slammed his whole body into the back of the cage as hard as he could.

"Let me go!" he shouted…no answer came of course, just more silence.


	6. Chapter 6

                                                                        

 

Alexis took a deep breath as she walked towards school. She had been so surprised that Beckett had agreed with her about going to school. She knew the second her dad saw her in her uniform he'd put his foot down and stop her from going to school.

The thing was Alexis couldn't be in the loft, she couldn't stand in the kitchen because she saw Rome climbing on the counters to get something from the cabinet that he was still just too short to reach.

She couldn't be in the family room because she saw him playing video games with their dad or his Legos spread out all over the place or hiding somewhere waiting to jump out and scare her. And she definitely couldn't be in her room because all over the walls were drawings Rome had done for her, sketches of her favorite movie characters, her favorite landscapes, and just down the hall was Rome's room, that was worst of all the places in the loft.

She needed to be away from all that, at least at school Rome's presence was minimal, she just had to stay strong during the walk there, stay away from the art room that was probably the biggest problem. Rome was all over that room, she could feel him there.

Jason, the security guard Castle hired to "babysit" Alexis, kept his distance. He made sure she knew he was there but made sure it wasn't obvious why he was there at least to her peers.

Of course, she nearly broke down right from the start.

Paige was waiting for her on the steps. She smiled happily and launched right into a story about her after school plans, something about Eric Carmichael having a party and Lauren and Alexis were invited too.

Paige stopped midsentence and looked Alexis over. Alexis panicked for a second she had done her best to erase all trace of the previous night's breakdown, to keep a strong face. Make sure no one knew what was going on. The kidnapper had made it clear only the Castle family and the detectives from the 12th could be involved.

It took Alexis a second to realize Paige wasn't looking her over she was looking for Alexis' shadow, she was looking for Rome.

"Where's Rome? Is he sick?" Paige asked.

Alexis felt a lump in her throat, she needed to tell someone, she couldn't hold everything in anymore, it was eating her, she needed a shoulder to cry on someone who didn't need her to be strong, someone who could be strong for her.

But she couldn't she couldn't tell Paige anything, Rome's life was more important than her own feelings, she couldn't risk her brother's life just to give herself some relief.

So instead Alexis put on a reassuring smile, she nodded at her best friend even though inside she was screaming and crying,

"Yeah, ear infection dad decided to keep him home."

"Aw, poor guy, at least he's got the weekend to rest. Is it just me or is he getting a lot more ear infections this year? I mean didn't he have a bad one when you guys came back from the Hampton's? But he seems to be getting them a lot more."

Alexis nodded happy to have this to talk about, sure it was about Rome but it was about Rome in the past it wasn't focusing on why Rome wasn't in school for the day.

"It's his hearing, his doctor said it's getting worse. He's pretty sure Rome's going to be completely deaf in a few months maybe six months tops."

"Oh, I'm sorry Lex that sucks big time. Tell him I'm sorry,"

Now Alexis felt her chest tighten, would she be able to tell Rome that soon? Would she be able to tell him that ever, would she be able to tell her little brother anything ever again?

The rest of the school day actually went smoothly there were times Alexis felt a breakdown coming, but she simply excused herself to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, took a few deep calming breaths and returned to class.

It was after lunch that she really struggled to keep it together.

World history class they were discussing, of course, Roman Legions and the part they played in conquering Britannia. Of all the things the teacher could have picked why did she pick that for today of all days?

Alexis was sure she was going to lose it, every time Mrs. Becker said the words Rome or Roman, tears stung at Alexis' eyes threatening to spill, her notes on the subject was illegible, the word Rome didn't even look like Rome.

Thankfully Mrs. Becker didn't call on her or anyone for that matter, she just lectured leaving Alexis to try and concentrate in the city of Rome the soldiers of Rome not her little brother Rome.

It took a lot of effort and more trips to the bathroom but Alexis managed to survive history class. But her last class of the day was Ethics and was down a corridor that unfortunately went right past middle school/elementary school art room.

There was no way around it. She would have to face it, maybe if she walked past it didn't look inside or at the display case outside, where her brother's art was sure to be.

What Alexis didn't factor in was Rome's art class leaving the room as she was heading past it.

Most of his art classmates waved to her, they knew she was Rome's sister, even though some didn't know her name.

Aside from the gym and the cafe, the art wing of the school was the only other place the three levels would come in contact with each other.

Seeing Rome's class made Alexis' stomach ache, normally when their paths crossed at school like this, Rome and his friends would rag and tease Alexis and her friends making fun of the high school kids who would give it right back to the little kids.

There would be none of that today, Alexis watched Rome's classmates shuffle past her in a herd, chatting laughing being sixth graders. None of them seemed concerned or curious as to why Rome was absent, none of them aware that their classmate was at the moment kidnapped, being held in a dog crate.

Complete blissful ignorance as far as these eleven and twelve-year-olds were concerned it was a normal Friday, gearing up for Labor Day weekend.

Alexis couldn't help her jealousy of them, of everyone at school for that matter, to them nothing was out of the ordinary.

They had no idea that at the moment the Castle family was facing the scariest thing a family could go through, that they were literally going through hell.

Alexis managed to keep a calm smile on her face until the last of the students came out of the room.

Todd, Rome's best friend since pre-school. He looked his usual goofy self but Alexis could see the concern in his eyes, he was missing his best friend his partner in crime and in art. Clearly worried, wondering why Rome was out for the day, Todd's eyes were disheartened.

They were so rarely apart from one another at school. In the five going on six years Rome and Todd had been friends they had only faced one major fight, the typical 'you can't come to my birthday' 'I'm never talking to you ever again' argument, they were seven, but a few days passed and the fight was forgotten as quickly as it had started, neither one of them even remembered what the fight was about.

Physically Todd was much bigger than Rome and was a year older, Rome had started preschool a year ahead of most kids his age, so he was younger than most of his classmates. But Todd looked out for Rome protecting him, he had been doing so since preschool, he was also the best of Rome's group of really close friends, who was nearly as fluent in ASL, as Rome and Alexis. His other friends could sign as well, but Todd could act as a translator for Rome.

On the opposite side, Rome looked out for Todd, academically. Todd struggled with school, he tried but was on a special Ed plan for most classes and just took longer to understand concepts that were easy for his peers, Rome was always there to help his friend out even at some points putting his own academics in danger.

Todd's eyes lit up when he saw Alexis, grinning his usual goofy grin. He knew she could explain where Rome was.

"Hi Alexis," he said louder than he clearly meant too.

She put on a brave face for him, if there was anyone in Rome life who couldn't be told he had been kidnapped it was his best friend, despite his size and carefree attitude, Todd was a pretty sensitive kid, and would not handle news like that well.

"Hi Todd," Alexis managed to say, a mantra in her mind saying over and over 'stay strong stay strong'

"How come Rome's out today?" Todd asked carefully shifting his backpack

"Er, he's sick Todd, he has a really bad ear infection, dad decided to keep him home today."

Todd made a face

"Does that mean he's not going to be able to sleep over tonight? We're supposed to go to the beach tomorrow."

Alexis didn't know how to answer that, she had forgotten that Rome was supposed to spend the night at Todd's apartment along with their other friends Gage, Kevin, and Joey.

"I'm sorry Todd, probably not he...he was really hurting this morning." She lied smoothly feeling terrible about it.

"Oh, um do you think it would be okay if we skyped him tonight? See how he's feeling? That way it is like he's hanging out with us?"

Now Alexis felt even worse about this whole thing, she didn't know how to tell Todd that it wouldn't be possible for them to skype Rome. But how could she tell him that and not explain why, Todd was the kind of kid who always asked 'why,' whenever he was told something. As if dealing with Todd wasn't bad enough, it got worse when Gage and Kevin came down the hall clearly looking for Todd.

"Hey Alexis," Kevin said grinning shyly at her,

This was all she needed, Todd was easy enough to keep at bay, but with Gage and Kevin, she was definitely outnumbered by Rome's buddies. All she needed now was Joey to join then and that would complete the phrase 'ganging up'

"Hi guys," she said weakly hoping her voice didn't betray her, none of them seemed to notice though.

"Alexis how come your dad called my parents last night? Did Rome forget something? It was kind of weird, my mom was kind of concerned, she said your dad was asking if Rome was still at our apartment, he was heading to karate after he left my place." Kevin asked, "is everything okay?"

Alexis was hesitant on this one, Rome had left Kevin's apartment heading to karate when he had been...Alexis couldn't even think the word let alone say it. So in all reality, Kevin had been the last of Rome's friends to see him, but she couldn't tell Kevin this.

This would be tougher to lie about and Alexis couldn't come up with an answer that made sense. Thankfully she didn't have too, Mrs. Hawkins the middle school and elementary school art teacher poked her head out, a look of surprise on her face.

"Guys, seriously? You're going to be late for the last period. Gage Kevin come on I'm surprised with you two, Todd I expect." She paused and saw Alexis "Hi Alexis,"

"Hi Mrs. Hawkins," Alexis replied smiling weakly

The boys all exchanged a look and waved bye to Alexis as they hurried down the hall back to the middle school wing. She could hear them whispering amongst themselves, she just hoped they never figured out what was really going on.

"We really missed Rome today, we were working on animation, right up his alley. Is he okay?"

Alexis felt the tears rising again, this wasn't like Paige or Rome's friends, Mrs. Hawkins was a teacher, she could be told something in confidence. But…Alexis knew she couldn't, no matter how much she wanted too she had to keep Rome's kidnapping a secret. Maybe Castle had been right about why he didn't want her to go to school, maybe it wasn't just keeping her in his sight at all times, but perhaps it was because he knew how tough it would be for her to go through the school day, people asking about Rome and her knowing she couldn't tell them the truth.

Mrs. Hawkins put a hand on Alexis' arm gently, a look of concern on her face

"I…' Alexis started to say

"Alexis is something wrong? Sweetie, why don't you come in and talk to me,"

Alexis forced a smile and shook her head

"I'm sorry Mrs. Hawkins, it's nothing, just a little tired." Here goes the lying again, she thought "Rome came down with another ear infection last night, so it was kind of a late night for all of us."

Mrs. Hawkins clearly wasn't convinced, but she nodded, accepting Alexis' answer for the time being.

"All right, but you know Alexis, if you guys need anything, I'm here to listen. Tell your brother we were thinking of him today and tell him I hope we see him Tuesday." Mrs. Hawkins who was pretty fluent in ASL signed the last part as she spoke and that got another weak smile from Alexis as she headed towards Ethics, Jason not far behind.

x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Castle was leaned over the kitchen counter, a cup of tea in front of him that he was subconsciously stirring with a spoon, gazing into the abyss. The sugar had long dissolved. He has always preferred coffee; tea seems so boring. However coffee had been his only food group for the past twenty-four hours and though he didn't want to, he knew he was going to have to get some sleep at some point otherwise he would crash.

It was 4 in the afternoon, and he hadn't slept since the captor first called. Not a wink. How could he? One child had been kidnapped, and the other had insisted on going to school today. Castle had flat out refused when Alexis had pleaded with him.

"You are staying at home Alexis" he had told her firmly when she descended the stairs the next morning in her uniform. "We do not know who this guy is and I will not have you snatched off the street too!"

Alexis hadn't been surprised at this reaction and was ready to argue that she would be fine, that she would be safer at school than here if he was trying to find Rome. But she didn't need to.

"Castle, I think that she should go to school." Beckett had come out of Castle's study her phone pressed to her ear, obviously on hold to someone. "She needs normality right now" and as she walked past him on her way to the sink she whispered, "She shouldn't be here for this."

Castle had agreed on the condition that security would be with her, keeping an eye on her and that Alexis would check in with him between classes.

4.02pm. She was late. His daughter was never late. He knew he shouldn't have let her out of his sight! A cold dread started to flood through his body. Castle was just about to pull out his phone when he heard a key in the door and Alexis barreled into the loft. She had barely enough time to pull off her coat before her Dad enveloped her into a bear hug.

"For a girl who is so punctual you picked the worst time to be late," he told her.

"By 2 minutes Dad, and I called you when I was five blocks away! Jason was with me the whole time!"

"I know, I know, just…long day," Castle sighed, unwilling to let her go. When they pulled apart, he could see her eyes looked slightly puffy and tired. "Tough day?" he asked, a nudge to her shoulder, and a small smile.

"I couldn't concentrate in any of my classes; all I could think about was Rome," she admitted. "I should have stayed at home."

"Pumpkin, Beckett was right, some normality is good right now, though if you want to stay home tomorrow…"

"Maybe, I'll think about it. Speaking of Beckett, where is she?" Alexis looked around the loft as she walked away from the door and towards the kitchen; dumping her backpack on the couch.

"She's at the precinct with the boys"

"Have you heard any more from Rome?" Alexis tentatively asked, knowing the answer but there was a small part of her that was hopeful.

"No honey, not yet. The ball is in his captor's court right now. It is one big waiting game" he told her, running his hand through his hair; an action that had become a regular occurrence over the past 24 hours.

He sunk down onto the couch and opened his arms up for his daughter. She came willingly, settling down at his side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

Alexis nuzzled in, breathing in the comforting scent of her father, closing her eyes, letting his big arms shield her from the extreme terror she has experienced.

Rolling over slightly, something pocked her in the back. "Ow, what is that…" Alexis dug around and pulled her backpack out from behind her.

"Oh that reminds me; we got letters today, something about parent-teacher conferences happening next week." Alexis rummaged around and pulled out an envelope with the Marlowe Prep stamp crisply printed on the front. As she handed it to her dad, she saw something out of the corner of her eye; a flutter of paper slipping out of her bag and nestling onto the sheepskin rug.

"I guess we got two letters!" she exclaimed, stretching around Castle, who was busy ripping open the Marlowe envelope and swiping the paper off of the floor.

She went completely still. Frozen in place.

"Dad" she whispered.

"Hmm?" Castle moved the letter he was reading away from his face to look at his daughter. She was staring at the paper in her hand, her face completely white. He glanced at the paper, and his stomach rolled.

"Where did you get this Alexis?" he demanded, snatching it out of her hands. He sat up on the couch, pulling her with him.

"I…I don't know. It was just in my bag" Alexis whimpered. "Daddy, what does it mean?"

"It means that you are not leaving this apartment again."

The paper was a drawing, a perfect representation of Washington Square, complete with the arch, vendors, people, everything. It was not the drawing that shocked them but the artist. Rome. If they hadn't recognized his style before, there in the bottom right corner was his tiny signature, something that he had spent hours perfecting after watching his dad sign hundreds and hundreds of books.

Rome had drawn this, he was alive, and it also meant that the kidnapper had gotten close to Castle's family once again. Without anyone knowing. Without the bodyguard Jason noticing. Without Alexis or her friends noticing. M had gotten this drawing into her backpack while Alexis was at her thousands of dollars a year private school; one of the safest places she could be in the city.

"We need to call Beckett."

xxx

 

                                                           


	7. Chapter 7

xxx

"Alexis, I need you to think very carefully."

Beckett had arrived not 10 minutes after Castle's call. This drawing was the first contact they had had with M since the original phone call. It was both him mocking them saying 'look how close I can get to you', and also the first piece of this twisted story he wanted the team to weave with him.

"Did you see anything out of the ordinary today?"

"No, everything was normal." She was looking at the table, tears in her eyes. This felt like an interrogation. Her dad was hovering behind her chair while Beckett sat across the kitchen table opposite her.

"Anyone, you didn't recognize?"

A shake of the head.

"Did you leave your backpack with a friend or in a locker at any time?"

Another shake.

"Are you sure you didn't see anyone hanging around?"

"No! I told you I didn't!" Alexis exploded, her eyes throwing daggers.

"Alexis" her dad chided quietly from behind, taken aback by her petulant tone.

"You think I don't feel bad enough that I was that close to the guy and I didn't see him? That I could have done something to stop him, or saw what he looked like, something to help Rome?"

"Pumpkin, I'm glad you didn't see him. He is a dangerous man. If he thought you had seen him, he probably would have taken you too."

Beckett had sat back, watching the pair. She understood how Alexis must be feeling, and she agreed with Castle that it is a good thing that she didn't see him. She couldn't bear the thought that his daughter could have been taken too, though of course there was a small part of her that wished the girl saw a flash of someone; a lead.

"Alexis, it's fine. It is not your fault at all. I know you want to get Rome back but getting angry and upset at yourself is not the best way of doing that. Take some deep breaths." The detective soothed.

Alexis folded her arms onto the top of the table and lay her head on them. Castle and Beckett glanced at each other over her head. Castle was gently rubbing circles on Alexis' back, distraught that this man got so close to his daughter, and that she was in such a state.

After a moment, Alexis sat up; far more composed than she was.

"Ok, sorry, you're right" she whispered at Kate, who gave her a reassuring smile.

"No need to be sorry, I have to ask these questions that's all."

Alexis nodded at her and glanced back at her dad. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. She suddenly snapped back to the detective.

"Wait, I do know something! We were given the letter at the start of last period and the paper was definitely not in my bag then, I would have remembered seeing it!" Alexis looked excited and pleased that this could help, that she had remembered this piece of information.

"That's great Alexis, really great!" Beckett shot Castle a smile.

"So that means he must have been in the school between 2 pm and 3 pm" he was nodding at Beckett to confirm.

"I'll get the boys to go down to the school and see if we can get any surveillance footage. With any luck, we could have got this guy on camera." Standing up from the table, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and started making the call.

Castle pulled Alexis into a hug. "Good job, pumpkin, good job."

Xxx

"Espo, it's me," Beckett said into the phone as she turned from the table, giving the father and daughter some privacy.

"Yo, where are you? You rushed out of here like a bat out of hell!"

"Listen, I can't explain right now but it's about Rome"

"Castle's kid? What about him?" she could hear the confusion in the detective's voice. Kate paused for a second and ran a hand through her hair; part exhaustion, part frustration.

"He's been kidnapped" she puffed out. It wasn't because she didn't want to tell him, of course not; she just hadn't said the words outright to anyone yet. Saying it made it real. Saying it made more people involved. Saying it turned it into a case. Saying it made Rome a victim.

Through the phone she could actually hear the detective drop a mug, shattering over the precinct floor.

"Shit! What the hell?!"

"I know, I know," she sighed, needing to fence off a rush of questions she didn't have the answers for. "We can't get into the details on the phone, right now I need you to go to Alexis' school and get surveillance footage from there. We may have gotten lucky and got this guy on camera."

"Marlowe Prep right? Got it, boss"

"Oh and bring it here, we have to keep this out of the precinct, at least for as long as possible okay?" she added just before she got a murmur of confirmation. Then he hung up.

If there was one thing that Beckett could count on was the boys to do first and ask questions later. She would let them in on what was going on; they were the best detectives and they were her team. But the first forty-eight hours of a kidnapping were critical; she could explain as they were going through the footage. Multi-tasking.

Popping her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, Beckett glanced up and took in her surroundings. During the brief conversation with Esposito, she had wandered into Castle's office.

The last time she was in here, he had read aloud to her from one of his books; that carefree smirk on his face when she had berated him for bringing her over under the pretense of sharing his research into the Jamaican ritual killing. She allowed herself a brief smile, remembering how she was secretly thrilled that her favourite author was reading his books to her. She missed that man now.

What with their, well, what would she call it…falling out? No, too tame. Betrayal of trust? Closer. End of their partnership? The consequence of the hurt he had caused anyhow. Well, the point is that it had been a while since he had made her laugh or roll her eyes at his immaturity, or have her on the verge of blushing at some sexual innuendo that would pop out of his mouth with no warning.

None of that man child was present. Now he was a distraught father. He had aged before her eyes. He may have hurt her by looking into her mother's murder, but this situation had the potential to hurt him beyond repair. No parent should outlive their child. Beckett squeezed her eyes tightly and shook her head; Rome wasn't dead. He would be fine. She would make sure he was fine. He better be damn fine.

"Hey"

Kate jumped and swiveled towards the door. Castle was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, a weary look on his face.

"Hey, that was Espo," she waved her phone in his direction. "He and Ryan are on their way to Marlowe Prep to pick up the video footage."

Castle nodded and moved fully into the office.

"They are bringing it here, we are going to have to keep this out of the precinct for as long as possible if we don't want the FBI involved," she told him quietly.

He brought glistening eyes up to her face.

"What are his chances?" he asked softly.

"Castle-"

"I, I just need to know. As a writer…every situation…I have to know. He is a ten-year-old kid who is going deaf, he's resourceful, but…it all comes down to the fact that he is only ten, how can he protect himself if he can't even hear? What if the kidnapper, this M guy, gets frustrated with him…Rome doesn't understand what he wants…god what if…" Castle's voice trailed off,

Beckett wouldn't have lied to him, but the thought did cross her mind to do just that at the sound of his quivering voice, barely holding it together. The chance of getting a kidnapped child back safely was much larger during the first 24 hours. Though this guy wasn't some opportunistic punk looking to make a quick buck with ransom demands; he was twisted, had this planned. Kate had no idea Rome's chances.

"Remember that little girl Angela?"

A nod.

"That was a special case; a different case. She came home."

"She was kidnapped by her aunt. Both me and Meredith are only children." Beckett frowned, was that a joke? But Castle hadn't finished. "This is some crazed man. An obsessive fan. God, why did I become a writer? Why couldn't I have just gotten a normal job at a bank, as a teacher? Why a murder mystery writer?" He wasn't angry; more like resigned. Kate would rather he was angry. Determined angry.

Not defeated, not yet.

She moved closer to gently lay a hand on his arm.

"I will do everything I can to get him back. We will do anything, I promise." Another Beckett promise. These were racking up now and it was paramount that she kept them to both little Castle and Castle himself. Not only would he never forgive her if she screwed this up, but she wouldn't forgive herself.

"You can't promise that." Castle's head hung low, looking where her hand lay on his forearm, but not seeing. She had forgotten how he knew her. He had spent the past year observing her, her mannerisms, her voice, her body language; he knew she didn't make promises.

Kate sighed.

"I know."

Again Castle brought his eyes up to her and she gave him a grim smile, more or a slight turn up of her pressed lips. It must have reassured him in some way; he appreciated the attempt or her honesty.

"Thank you," he muttered. The honesty then. As a cop helper, and because of his real job, he was well aware of the procedure of child kidnappings, and of gruesome endings. She wasn't going to handle him; mainly because he wouldn't let her.

However he needed reassurance and for her to let him know she was there, taking the reins and making the decisions while he was toeing the line between father and cop.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x

Espo and Ryan had arrived within the hour with the footage from Alexis' school, grim smiles and wordless shaking of hands; 'we are here for you'. Condolences weren't required; that would be defeat.

They were there to tackle the case head-on, like any other case. They were acknowledging the personal aspect before getting down to it. Getting wrapped up in who the victim was would do nobody any good.

With the footage projected onto the makeshift murder board they had constructed in Castle's office, the detective's had gathered round to review it.

Castle was in the kitchen with Alexis, trying to shield her as much as possible from this, but Beckett knew that that was not going to last long. Especially as the footage they were looking at was of her.

Ryan sidled up to Beckett and leaned in.

"Shouldn't we get the FBI involved? We are homicide detectives; we don't handle kidnappings"

She turned to him and could see how concerned he was. She knew he wasn't suggesting it because he likes to stick to procedure, but a general worry that they wouldn't solve this.

"Ryan, no. This guy knows what he is doing. Look how close he got to Alexis at a private, supposedly secure prep school. He will know if we get anyone else involved."

"But, I still think we should get someone with training involved, surely that would be what is best for Rome" he started to reason.

"No." Castle had come into the office, a determined, set look on his face. "We do this alone. I am not jeopardizing my son by bringing in the Feds."

Kate raised her eyebrow at the commanding attitude; nothing like she had witnessed an hour ago in this very room. Ryan stepped back and nodded, though Kate noticed he didn't look convinced. "Especially if Sorenson is on the team" Castle muttered as he moved closer to the screen.

Beckett shot him a confused look,

"What?" and was surprised when Castle ever so slightly blushed.

"Nothing" he rushed out and turned back to the footage.

Beckett kept her gaze on him for a moment longer, trying to read into that statement. Whatever, she didn't have time to unravel it.

"Have you seen anything yet?" he asked Espo.

"Nah, just a lot of well-dressed preppy students. Seriously bro, how much does this school even cost?!"

"Not enough apparently if someone can just waltz in and get into my daughter's bag. You would think that some of the tuition would go towards security" he glowered.

"It isn't that easy Castle, even the security guy you hired didn't see anything out of the ordinary so we may be looking at someone who works at the school" Ryan countered.

Castle's face grew even darker.

"You think a teacher is behind this? Someone that kids are supposed to trust?"

"We don't know, but we are looking now," the detective waved a hand back to the security footage, directing their attention back to the job in hand.

5 minutes of footage.

20 minutes of footage.

40 minutes of footage.

Nothing.

Castle let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'll go make some coffee", and got grunts of appreciation in return. He opened the door to his office and startled as Alexis jumped back, a guilty look on her face though her chin raised ready for a fight.

"Alexis-"

"I know you told me to go upstairs, but I can't Dad, I just can't. That is me you are looking at; someone who got to me and I want to be involved. I can help Dad please!"

Castle shook his head forcefully,

"No Alexis," he said feeling more like the child than the father, not the first time in Alexis' life he felt that way since she was about four she always acted more like the parent and he the child.

That role reversal had changed only slightly when Rome was born and as he grew older, he was the child that Alexis had only partly been, reminding Castle that he did need to grow up, at least a little bit, he had to be the parent for his kids, instead of the other way around.

"Dad I'm at this school Monday through Friday, I know who belongs and who doesn't I know pretty much everyone and if someone was there and they aren't normally there wouldn't that be better than someone who doesn't know the staff picking through the video?"

Castle made a face as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully he hated to admit she was right, hated to bring Alexis into this, but he had to remember, Rome was her brother she was already involved, whether he liked it or not.

"Pumpkin," he started to say

"Please dad, I need to feel like I'm doing something to help. Let me look at the footage, let me help my brother please."

He was so reluctant to do this, it went against everything in his being as a father. He had to protect his children; he had failed one of them he couldn't let the other one be hurt too.

But Alexis had a point she would be able to recognize someone from the school better than anyone. Time was critical and it could take them hours to go through all the footage, the clock was already clicking, they not only had to get to Washington Square to find the next piece of the puzzle, Castle also had a first chapter to write of the kidnapper's damn story, worst of all, they were nearing the twenty-four hour mark of Rome's kidnapping.

He hated to admit it, but they needed help on this. Watching the video, a teacher or aid who was out of place wouldn't look out of place to Castle or the team, but Alexis would know if that teacher was always there at that time or if it was out of the ordinary.

"Alright," Castle sighed, he was also remembering her reaction to Beckett's questions, her outburst, blaming herself wishing she could have seen whoever put Rome's drawing in her bag, He took her by the hand and guided her into his office. Beckett, Ryan, and Espo looked up in surprise, exchanging a look with one another. Beckett seemed to understand Castle's reluctant reasoning and she had to agree with him, this might be their best option, but like Castle, she was hesitant to let Alexis put herself in the middle of this.

"It would have been around two, maybe half past, I know it wasn't in my bag before then, but I was in the hallway near my locker, my bag was on the floor," Alexis explained to the detectives, Ryan skipped through the video till he reached the time frame Alexis had given them.

There were so many students and teachers passing through the hall that it was tough to see Alexis' bag, even for Alexis herself, she was an inch from the screen straining to see anything out of the ordinary.

The closer to the screen she got, the more concerned Castle became, he didn't want this, this was exactly what he was trying to avoid; Alexis getting so wrapped up in this that she would blame herself if she was unable to give them an answer. He had to put a stop to it.

"Alexis," he started to say, ready to pull her away if need be, but Alexis' face twisted into a confused look and Castle paused

"Mr. Carlson?" she mumbled to herself,

"Alexis?" Beckett asked gently "did you see something?"

"Kind of," Alexis replied she pointed to a teacher hovering nearby her. Castle recognized her friends; he saw Lauren and Paige, as well as Jason the security guard, standing not far from the girls, at a distance where his presence wouldn't be questioned, but still close enough to protect his charge. All three of the girls had their backs to the teacher that Alexis had pointed out, a man in his early twenties, who could have been a high school senior he looked so young.

"Who is Mr. Carlson?" Castle asked he knew all of his kid's teachers at least he thought he did.

"He's a TA, he started last spring, as a student teacher, he came in for the last few weeks of school."

"I don't remember him," Castle admitted, "how come you never mentioned him?"

"He was in Rome's class not any of mine. He was offered the TA position for this school year, only part-time because he's still going to school for teaching."

Ryan looked at Alexis carefully

"You seemed surprised to see him, Alexis," he pointed out

"I am," she explained "I don't understand why he's in our wing,"

"Why?" Espo asked

"Because, he's a TA in the fifth grade, he works in Rome's old teacher's class, Mrs. Frazier, the elementary and middle school teachers rarely ever come to the high school wing and Mr. Carlson, he has no reason to. I don't think I've ever seen him in our wing before this, and besides, most TA's don't work on Friday if there's a long weekend, at least I didn't think so. But I didn't even notice him today standing there." Alexis paused, she turned to Castle, her eyes filling with tears "I think it was him."

Castle reached forward and pulled her close, holding her tight as she began crying steadily. He looked over at Beckett, Espo, and Ryan, before turning his attention to the paused video, a clear image of this Mr. Carlson, his eyes on Alexis' bag, as if he was just waiting for the opportunity to move in on it.

Something caught Castle's eyes as he stared at the image, his eyes filling with rage at the TA, but it was what was in Mr. Carlson's hand that made his stomach drop, a white piece of paper, the same shape as the drawing Rome had done.

Xxx


	8. Chapter 8

Castle was about one phone call from taking the phone off the hook. He knew he couldn't, he had to be available in case the kidnapper called. But that meant the rest of the world was able to call as well. Rome's friends had been calling non-stop asking to talk to their friend. Castle felt so horrible telling them he couldn't come to the phone, they all sounded so disappointed. He remembered how Alexis had told him that Todd, Kevin, and Gage had practically surrounded her at school asking about Rome and how she didn't know what to tell them.

Lying to the eleven and twelve year olds was heartbreaking; they were so concerned about Rome, worried about the fact he hadn't emailed them, hadn't called them, hadn't texted, he wasn't even online for their video game meetings, it wasn't like him they insisted, was he okay? Was he really as sick as Alexis had said? Would he be back at school on Tuesday?

Castle rubbed his temple and moved back into the kitchen to get a soda, he had been living on coffee for the last day or so and knew more caffeine wasn't a good idea but he needed something sugary that wasn't coffee. He hadn't gone shopping in a while, neither had Martha, too focused on what was going on so all that was left in the fridge was the one soda that no one else besides Castle and Rome, would drink straight; root beer. Everyone enjoyed a good root beer float, but only Rome shared his father's love for the soda. Castle stared at the glass bottles, yet another thing that reminded him that his son was missing.

He reached for the bottle slowly and popped off the cap. He was about to take a sip when the phone rang again. Castle rubbed his temple, ready to lie to yet another one of Rome's friends. He had already talked to the main ones, his son's group of close friends, Joey, Kevin, Gage, and of course Rome's best friend Todd. Todd had been the toughest one to deal with, he was so insistent and practically begging Castle to let him come over and make sure Rome was okay.

This time however, Castle recognized the number instantly and felt his stomach drop. Of course she would call now, when he most needed to focus…Meredith.

At first Castle didn't even want to answer the phone, it rang once, then twice. What would he tell her? He couldn't tell her the truth could he?

The less people involved in the case the better for Rome, it would ensure that Rome would come home safe, the kidnapper had made that clear. He had listed the people he wanted involved and Meredith wasn't on that list…

But at the same time, this was Rome's mother, he may have full custody of the kids, but she was still their mother and she deserved to be in the loop.

Only if she asks…only if she asks, Castle thought to himself, praying to himself that Meredith would not ask for Rome. She would usually ask how he was of course, checking on him, but she rarely asked to speak to him. She knew his hearing might not allow it so if she did want to talk to her son, she would utilize skyping with him.

"Oh good Richard, I wasn't sure if you were going to be home. How are you?"

"Er, not bad," he replied, trying to keep his voice steady. It was painful enough to lie to Rome's friends, but lying to his ex-wife and mother of his children was something entirely different. It was wrong on so many and it was just one more reason for Castle to hate the kidnapper.

"Richard you're going to think I'm being silly. I just got home from an audition and I dropped my purse when I was getting my key out, the school pictures you sent me of Alexis and Rome fell out. I just wanted to call and tell them how grown up they look. I was really missing them today. Are either one of them home?"

Castle's chest tightened, Alexis was upstairs in her room; she was supposed to be laying down, but he suspected she was reading or doing homework, anything to keep her mind off of what was going on.

"Uh," he really hated to lie to Meredith. He wanted to tell her, wanted to share this pain with her, they were both in danger of losing their son and she deserved to know. But what could she do? She was in LA, all he would succeed in telling her was worry her and that wasn't fair.

"Richard?"

"Alexis is up in her room studying,"

"What about Romey? If I know him he's probably playing a video game, please tell me it's not that zombie game of his."

"He's not home right now, he's over his friend's house for a sleepover." Castle lied and instead of feeling better about Meredith not having to share in his pain, he felt worse.

"Oh, well that's good, will you tell them I called?"

"Of course,"

"I miss you three, I should come out soon to visit."

"You're welcome anytime Meredith you know that,"

"Richard is everything okay? Your voice sounds odd, have you been crying?"

"Uh, no, just cutting up an onion," he lied smoothly "which I need to get back too, I'll let Rome and Alexis know you called, I know…I know Rome will be sad he missed you." He could feel the tears streaming down his face,

"Okay, have a good night Richard, give the kids a hug and a kiss for me" and with that Meredith hung up.

Castle knew Meredith wasn't fooled, she knew something was wrong and he could hear it in her voice that she was hurt he wasn't sharing with her. But this was for her own good and for Rome's wellbeing too.

Beckett came out of the office, wondering what was keeping him. She saw the hurt in his eyes, the pain that had seemed to have intensified in a few moments.

"Castle?" she asked "who was on the phone?"

"Meredith. She asking about the kids, she said she was really missing them today, asked about Rome what he was up to and what Alexis was up to. I had to lie to her, I had to lie to my kids' mother. If there was ever something their mother deserved to know about it was this."

Beckett put a comforting hand on his arm and guided him back into the office, there wasn't much she could say to comfort him on that.

xxxx

Espo and Ryan hurried back into the Castle loft. They had just spent an hour pulling records from Marlowe Prep, getting the principal to let them in without telling him why was not an easy task and they had only succeeded when they dropped Castle's name, especially on a Friday night of Labor Day Weekend.

When they got into the loft, Beckett met them at the door, she looked exhausted and both Ryan and Espo expected that's how they looked too and they both knew that Castle looked ten times worse.

"Hey, what you guys find out?"

"Oh not to sound cliché or pull a 'Castle' here, but the plot thickens" Espo replied, Beckett rubbed her temple, not really in the mood for clichés.

"Not now guys…what did you find?"

"Well, we pulled Jordan Carlson's resume, it's all fake." Ryan explained as they headed into the kitchen

"Fake?" Beckett exclaimed

"Everything. We sat down with the principal Mr. Simmons, he said he received a phone call last spring from an advisor in the education department of NYU, the advisor who gave his name as Dr. Howe, he explained he had a bright student who showed promise, but was losing interest in the field of education." Espo said "and I'm quoting here, he felt that 'spending a few days observing a classroom under the leadership of a highly skilled and successful teacher in the field would spark something in Carlson'.''

"Wait," Castle said joining them in the kitchen "are you saying that the principal of my kids' school let this Carlson guy in!?"

"Castle according to the principal it all sounded legit. His transcripts checked out, his resume, Simmons even called his references, they all checked out."

"Wait you said checked out," Castle replied "as in past tense?"

"We checked, called NYU, surprisingly their administration secretary hadn't left for the night, they'd never heard of a Jordan Carlson, he's not enrolled there, not now, not ever. All the references lead to dead numbers. So as a last step we went over to NYU, see if we could get in touch with the advisor…same thing the school had never heard of him either."

Castle sat down at the counter, feel sick.

"So are you guys telling me, this guy managed to get into my kids' school, just like that?" he asked

"New York State law requires schools to run background checks on anyone who will be in the school system with kids. Marlowe Prep ran a background check on Jordan Carlson with the social security number he gave, but they only look for criminal records. He didn't have any, because he didn't exist, so nothing seemed out of place to the school. Between the resume, the recommendation, the advisor, there was no reason for anyone at Marlowe to be suspicious."

"There has to be a reason," Beckett said "we know Carlson isn't the kidnapper, he's too young, but he is involved and I don't think he's innocent at all…but why, why put him into the school in the first place?"

Castle's eyes went wide

"To get close to Rome…to be able to get details about Rome that he wouldn't normally have…" Castle paused his heart racing "Ryan when did Carlson first go to the school?"

Ryan looked at his paperwork

"The advisor set up the first observation around April third, Mr. Simmons gave Carlson a tour of school and let him loose."

"April third?!" Castle exclaimed

"Castle what's with the third?"

"Rome's art work,"

"What about it?" Beckett asked, more insistent

"Two weeks before his art show, right around the third, two pieces that Rome was planning on displaying in the art show went missing from the art room. He was sure that a student who had been bullying him had taken them, but he couldn't prove it, nothing else made sense to any of us. We never saw the drawings again, he was so upset about it…"

"What were they of?" Espo asked

"One was a cover art for the Derrick Storm graphic novel that Rome created and the other was a sketch of my mother preforming on Broadway. He was so proud of them, so heartbroken that they had gone missing."

Castle clenched his fist in anger.

"A year," Beckett mumbled, "that means he's been planning this for at least a year."

"But he didn't go into Rome's class until two weeks before the summer started, where was he the whole time?"

"Moving through the grades," Ryan explained "so he could see what grade best suited his personality."

"To establish a legitimate reason for being there, so it would be suspicious when he finally settled in Rome's class." Castle concluded "god damn it…"


	9. Chapter 9

Alexis was lying face down on her bed, still in her school uniform. It had been a long day. A very long day. Too many questions from both her friends and her brother's friends as to where he was, too many reminders in all her classes.

Why couldn't dad have named him something more normal? If he had been called James then she wouldn't have spent her history class fighting back the tears as the teacher lectured about the Romans. Great, now she was thinking about Rome again.

She let out a cracked sigh into her pillow once again fighting back tears and exhaustion. She had spent the day trying to keep herself together as much as possible at school and now that she was home, and after finding the drawing in her backpack, she could no longer put up a fight.

Alexis could tell that her dad was trying to keep himself together for her and in a way, it helped. She needed him to be as solid as possible; she couldn't be the parent this time. Though of course, it wasn't as though she was happy that he had found a new level of protectiveness and desire to discipline after she went to see Beckett, or that he tried to keep her from school and the video footage.

Speaking of Beckett, Alexis was glad that she was here; that her dad had someone to lean on. However, that meant that Alexis was alone in her room. As soon she had identified Mr. Carlson, her dad had practically carried her out of his office, kissed the top of her head, then went back in, shutting the door.

She got it. She did. The way to help Rome was for them to work the case and she knew he was a vital member of the team. But she wanted her Daddy, wanted to curl up in his arms like she did when she was smaller, have him squeeze and murmur reassurances into her ear.

As the oldest child and usually the most mature person in the family, she didn't often feel the need to be a kid. But that is what she is; a scared fifteen-year-old who desperately missed her little brother. She wouldn't draw her dad away from Beckett and the boys though; wouldn't make him feel guilty. She got to curl up with him on the couch earlier, even if it was just for five minutes. She could handle it. For Rome; she would handle her emotions.

Alexis turned over on to her back and stared at the pale blue and white ceiling of her bedroom; white fluffy clouds scattered across the sky. Her dad had stuck small glow-in-the-dark stars onto it, invisible during the day, but at night, she fell asleep floating around the Milky Way.

When her and Rome were younger, the three of them would lie on her bed, making up constellation; "Look, there's Batman", "I see the giant wok", "Is that a unicorn?" Make believe, fun, and bedtime stories. Her childhood was awesome.

Another tear slipped down her cheek. Great, was there nothing she could think about without being reminded?

The shrill sound of her cell phone cutting into her memories and her sadness startled her. It took a few seconds to register what was happening before rolling over to swipe it off of her bedside table.

Mom.

Meredith?

Taking a deep breath and shutting her eyes, she tried to push everything she was feeling aside.

"Hey, Mom". Well, that sounded weak.

"Alexis honey, is everything ok?" Meredith's voice was soft and gentle; not in a fake, distant way that Alexis had gotten used to over the years, but laced with worry and anxiety.

"Everything's fine." Alexis tried to lift up the tenor of her voice.

"Are you sure? I just spoke to your dad and he sounded a bit strange. Have you two had a fight? Has Rome told him he doesn't want to be a space cowboy for Halloween and now he is heartbroken?" she tried as a joke.

Alexis laughed but it was too airy, too high pitched. Her mother is an actress; she could tell.

"That didn't sound very convincing sweetheart. Lex, you can talk to me about anything, what's happened?" Wow, Mom voice; a concerned parent.

That did it.

"I-I'm…" Alexis' voice cracked, wavered, and then broke. The dam burst once again and she found herself sobbing down the phone to her absent mother for the first time in probably eight or nine years.

Meredith let Alexis cry knowing that there was nothing she could do while she was this worked up. After a few minutes, the sobs turned to hiccups, and Alexis had calmed down somewhat.

"Now what has gotten you this worked up hmm?"

"I don't think I can tell you" Alexis whispered. She knew what M had said; who could know about his twisted ploy and her mother was not one of them. If she had spoken to her dad then he would have told her about Rome; he obviously hadn't.

"You can't tell me? Why?"

"Well, I…just…" she trailed off.

Meredith let out a long sigh. "Ok Alexis, but if you want to tell me, you call me whenever you hear?"

Alexis couldn't trust her voice, so she hummed in agreement. Another dramatic sigh from her mom.

"How's Romey?" Meredith eventually asked. Alexis took a breath and managed to keep her voice even in her answer as she proceeded with a blatant lie, something she hated doing but she could see no other alternative.

"Oh he's fine, err, he's crashed out on the couch at the moment, said he was really tired after he got in from school."

There was a pause. "Your father said he was at a sleepover."

Uh oh. That just proved it; Alexis couldn't lie.

"Errr he did?"

"Alexis. Where is your brother?"

Alexis lay back down on the bed, a hand coming up to push at her eyes; holding back the tears.

"He isn't here Mom" she started. "We don't know where he is."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x

Castle and the team had been in his office for an hour, going over and over the footage of Mr. Carlson, the fake resume, the fake everything, Castle had given them a legitment reason why Carlson would have gone through all the trouble of getting into Marlowe Prep, but it still didn't make any sense on how he was involved

"He obviously isn't our kidnapper; he barely looks adult. The guy on the phone sounded old, distinguished."

"So how is he involved?"

"And why."

"We need to find out…" The bouncing back and forth of unanswerable questions was interrupted when the study door banged open and Alexis stalked in, face red, and her phone in her hand.

Castle frowned and started to rise from his chair as he saw the mutinous look on his daughters face. "Alexis-" he started to chastise but got the phone thrust into his hand.

"Great parenting Dad, leave it up to your child to do your dirty work for you." Alexis' voice was laced with sarcasm. Her mom had quite rightly gone mad when Alexis had told her what had happened to her son, which had turned Alexis' sadness into anger. Here she was, needing reassurance, comfort, and protection, but instead, she had to be the one to deal with her mother when her dad had failed to do it himself. She was angry and upset and tired and just wanted Rome; Rome could joke her out of any mood, any upset, anything.

The boys and Beckett looked uncomfortable as Castle stood up fully and cast a hard look on his worked up daughter. "Do not speak to me like that" he growled.

"Well I am done speaking to you, so why don't you talk to mom instead" she bit back before turning on her heel and stalking back out, frustrated tears being swiped away.

It was then that Castle could hear the shrill voice of his ex-wife coming from the phone in his hand and immediately his anger dissipated with a resigned sigh. He turned to look at the team, who were busy studying either the ceiling or the floor.

"I need to take this" he muttered before heading to his bedroom.

Once he was out of sight, Espo turned to Ryan; "Woah who was that fireball?"

"Little Castle has a temper to go with that hair obviously" Ryan replied.

"Guys, she is upset and frustrated, and probably a lot scared right now. She can blow up if she wants."

"Yeah of course, but did you see Castle's face? I swear the temperature in this room dropped like fifty degrees."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Castle came back into the office looking slightly paler than before. He flopped down into his office chair and scrubbed a hand down his emotionally wrought face. The boys pretended not to notice him and carried on going through more of the footage to see if they could see Carlson getting into his car. A number plate would be good right about now.

Kate came over behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to acknowledge her before swiveling back to his desk.

"Everything ok?" she murmured.

"Yeah. I told her everything. I don't know why I lied to her before; she is his mother and has a right to know."

"You wanted to follow M's order's Castle, no-one blames you for that."

Castle barked a harsh laugh. "Well, no-one except my ex-wife. She told me it was my fault that he was taken, that I should have paid better attention to Rome, that I shouldn't have written Nikki Heat or Derrick Storm…"

"I'm sure she didn't mean that; she is just upset and worried."

"Yeah I know, it…hurts having someone say what you are thinking" he admits.

Beckett pushed his chair around so that Castle was now facing her. "You really think that this is your fault? That because you write murder mysteries that give someone the right to kidnap your child?"

He stayed silent. Rationally he knew that it wasn't his fault, but he wasn't thinking rationally right now. He was thinking as a father.

"Castle, listen to me. This is not your fault. Or Meredith's, or Nikki Heats, or anyone apart from this nut job. Understand?" He gave a brief nod of his head. Kate sighed but let it go. "So, I take it she is coming to New York now?"

"God, probably, she'll probably be on the first flight she can get."

Beckett sighed, there wasn't anything they could do about that, she couldn't imagine how hurt Meredith must have felt, being kept out of this.

"Now go talk to your daughter; she needs her father. I'll come find you if we get anything I promise."

xxx

Meanwhile, in California, Meredith took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. How could Richard not tell her that their son was missing…that some maniac had kidnapped their child? How could he try to keep that from her…more importantly, how could he let this happen?

Oh Rome, her little Roman. Did Richard really feel she wasn't important enough to include in this, that she wouldn't care about Rome, not care about her own son? She knew she wasn't as much a part of Rome's life as she would've liked to be, but he was still her baby, her Valentine baby.

Quickly Meredith pulled out a suitcase and shoved some clothes inside, for the first time in her life, she did not care what she brought, it didn't matter what clothes she brought, she just wanted to get on the first flight she could to New York. She had to help find Rome, help bring him home, be there to comfort Alexis, even…rip into Richard for his carelessness, if need be.

She pulled out her cell phone and started to dial the ticket counter at LAX, preparing to book a direct flight.

Before she could, however, her phone began ringing in her hand, her heart skipped a beat when the caller ID showed 'Rome' was this all a trick?

Was Richard playing the cruelest practical joke on her in history?

No, she couldn't ignore Alexis' tears, those were genuine and Richard was truly guilt-ridden about Rome. This was not a joke, but why would Rome be calling.

"Romey? Sweetie, sweetie it's mommy can you hear me? Sweetie where are you? Can you tell me where you are? Roman?"

Rome hadn't called her mommy in years, not since he was about seven, but it was instinct to refer to herself as mommy, especially right now, if Rome was indeed calling her, if he had somehow managed to get his phone and call her, she wanted to reassure him as much as possible.

Of course, it never crossed her mind about why he would be calling her first, why he wasn't calling Richard or Alexis first. The thought of her baby being missing was not allowing Meredith to think rationally.

"Hello Ms. Harper," a strange voice replied on the phone, Meredith stared at it in shock,

"Who is this?"

"Who I am is not important at the moment Ms. Harper, all you need to know is that I currently decide if your son goes home to his father or not."

"Wh…what?" Meredith stuttered, sinking down on her bed

"You heard me, Ms. Harper. At the moment your son is perfectly safe, he is under my care. Your ex-husband and his team are feverishly working on solving this little mystery I have laid out for them, which will in good time bring Roman home safe and sound. This case has been running smoothly up until now and your little outburst over the phone a while ago is the one chink in the chain that may bring this entire event to a standstill."

"Look I don't know what sick game you're playing with my ex-husband, but my son is not a bargaining chip."

"I never said he was Ms. Harper. He is, however, the key to this entire mystery and I'm afraid I cannot let you jeopardize that. I do find it quite amusing Ms. Harper that all the times you have neglected Roman, ignored him, shown little interest in his life, that now all of sudden with his life hanging in the balance you would like to swoop in and play mommy. I do believe it was you who was against his learning sign language? Perfectly happy to allow your own son to wallow in a silent world with no means to communicate if only to save your own image, your own vanity? Can't stand the image of your son flapping his hands in that gibberish? Can't stand how it makes you look, the world knowing you have a deaf and dumb freak of nature child?"

"That is not true! He is not a freak of nature, do not call him that. He's only a child, an innocent child." Meredith cried tears were streaming down her face, "I was trying to protect him."

She didn't know why she was explaining herself to the kidnapper. Instinctively, she reached to her neck where a locket hung. Her mother's day present a few years before, engraved on the front it said 'we love you mommy' on the back was Alexis and Rome's names, and inside were their pictures, five-year-old Rome and ten year old Alexis, she rarely took it off, only when her acting called for it, but even then she always had it on her person, it was never far from her.

"Protect him, Ms. Harper? Is that your reasoning, you wanted to protect him? That is quite laughable. And you are honestly trying to tell me that you have never once been ashamed of Roman? You have the perfect daughter and then the other one comes along the opposite of Alexis, so sickly, so weak, the only thing he has going for him is that talent for is drawing pretty pictures. Nothing else about him is quite normal, then, of course, there was that phone call from Mr. Castle, that one phone call that changed everything, that crushed your dreams, Ms. Harper. He was so sure that Roman was going deaf, he wanted to take him to that specialist, that specialist who recommended Roman start wearing hearing aids, learning sign language, and you saw your hope at a second perfect child go right out the window."

"That is not true!"

"Oh yes, it is Ms. Harper. Believe me, I know you, I know all about you and your relationship with your son, or should I say lack thereof. What was it, Roman's last birthday you actually forgot about him? Or simply found something that was more important than celebrating your son's tenth birthday. They only turn ten once Ms. Harper, only enter those exciting double digits for the first time once and then turning another year old is just that. I wonder, do you suppose Roman cried that night? I'm sure he put on a brave face, he is quite good at pretending things do not bother him when deep down he is crying. I'm sure he did cry, cry and wonder why his mother didn't care about him, didn't love him enough to remember him on his birthday of all days, blamed himself. How will you live with yourself if that birthday was the last he will ever celebrate? Life is so short these days Ms. Harper, life has a way of ending rather abruptly, even for the young."

"I…I…" Meredith was a loss for words, she hadn't forgotten Rome on his birthday, at least she had convinced herself she hadn't, she knew he was having a party with his friends and she hated to interrupt that. Was that the reason she hadn't called him? Why she waited a few days to do so? She couldn't remember now.

"Roman has been with me for twenty-four hours now and in that entire time, he has cried for his father, his grandmother, his sister, even his stuffed wolf. I have also heard him calling for his step-mother… all at least once, if not more, in fact, every once in a while I keep hearing the word 'daddy' echoing from him. Crying for his father to come rescue him. But you know Ms. Harper I have not heard him utter the word 'mom' once, not a single time. What a pity that of all the people in your son's life you are not even a thought in his mind, that his final days could be upon us and you are not even important enough for him to think of."

"That is not true, Rome knows I love him, he's my baby…" Meredith argued trying desperately to erase the words 'final days' from her mind. "just let him go, please he's an innocent child, why are you doing this to him?"

"I am not doing this to 'him' Ms. Harper, it is all for your ex-husband and Ms. Rodgers. Rome is just a pawn in this game, simply the means to an end. And no one is completely innocent Ms. Harper, not even children." The man paused "now Ms. Harper, back to business. I am aware that your lovely little daughter Alexis spilled the beans to you about this little game."

"Game?!" Meredith repeated sharply "you have kidnapped my son, this is no game!"

"Oh, I can assure you, Ms. Harper, it is a game, one that will play out as I have planned with no interference from you. You will not be flying out here to New York Ms. Harper, not today, not tomorrow, not any day I have Roman in my possession. If you do I will know, believe me, I have ways of finding out. You are to stay in Los Angeles Ms. Harper, the city that holds something more important to you than your own children, your career. I have had no reason to threaten Roman's life up until now, but if you decide to disobey my instructions I will kill Roman. It would be a shame for this game to end on that sour note, as I have informed Mr. Castle I would like nothing more than to see Roman reunited with his father so I would hate for you to force my hand, Ms. Harper."

"No, please leave him alone, leave Rome alone, don't hurt him."

"Then do not toy with me Ms. Harper, if I find out you have come to New York or are interfering with this investigation in any way I will not only kill your son, but I will make sure everyone in his life finds out the hard way that he is dead. I will send pieces of him to everyone in his life, a piece to Ms. Cowell at her publishing office, Roman's school will receive a piece, destroy all his little friends in one sweep that they will never see their friend again. Of course, Detective Heat and her team at the 12th will receive a piece knowing that they failed to save a little boy's life, to save their dear friend's son. And you, Mr. Castle, Alexis, and Ms. Rodgers will each receive pieces as well, perhaps just your son's bloody clothes, so you will have a permanent reminder that because of your selfishness Ms. Harper your constant need to be the center of attention, your son died a painful and merciless death and that will be on you Ms. Harper, all on you."

Meredith was now sobbing on the phone, she tried to stay strong, but she couldn't, she clutched at her locket until her knuckles turned white

"Please…please do not hurt him, I won't come I won't come, just don't hurt him, please."

"Are we on the same page Ms. Harper?"

"Yes, yes we please, just don't hurt him, don't hurt him"

"Excellent to hear. I'm sure when all of this is over Mr. Castle will call you one way or another."

Meredith choked back her tears

"Please, can I speak to Rome? Please, let me speak to my son."

"No Ms. Harper, no interference remember? That counts as interfering. You may not speak to Roman, hopefully, Mr. Castle and his team are as smart as they claim to be, if they are, you will be speaking to Roman soon enough, if not. Well, then you will just have to be satisfied with the last time you spoke with your son, whenever that may have been, and live with that."

With that the kidnapper hung up, Meredith's phone slipped out of her hand. She slid to the floor against the bed, Sobbing harder than she ever had, Rome's face in her mind and the kidnapper's threats echoing through her body.

 

                                                            


	10. Chapter 10

Rome was not use to keeping busy, he had a short attention span that usually got him into trouble. He was never good at sitting still or finding something to occupy his mind when there was NOTHING available, give him a book and he could read for hours, or a blank piece of paper and a pencil and he'd draw for hours, but sitting, doing nothing was not Rome's idea of a good time.

He didn't know how much time had passed from M throwing him back into the cage; an hour two hours...five minutes. Rome had no sense of time, no sense of time of day. His mind was telling him it was daytime but was it really? Or was it night time? How long had he been kidnapped for? A day? A few days?

Even though Rome had a tremendous imagination he couldn't concentrate on anything that might distract him; he tried to make up a story but kept focusing on the pain.

The pain of his foot, the pain of his wrists, and the newest pain his stomach as it begged, pleaded, even began demanding food, of course his sore throat wasn't going to be out pleaded by his stomach his throat was so dry it hurt every time he took a breath even the air scrapped against his throat.

Even the disgusting tap water would be welcome right now...

Rome paused which led to another issue. He had consumed a lot of milk and juice at Kevin's and now his body had decided that should come back and haunt him. He had to go really bad.

Rome was really good at reading people he knew for a fact that if M had blown a gasket over Rome disobeying him to look for a way out then there was no telling what he would do if Rome had an accident.

But then again...what else could he possibly do to Rome at this point; he was starving him, had him in a cage tied up, worst of all he had snatched him and taken him away from his family, and he was forcing him to do something that Rome normally loved and was turning it into something to taunt his dad.

What else could M possibly do? Then Rome thought that over, he was ten but he was not an idiot. His dad was a famous mystery author Rome knew exactly what kind of punishments M could dish out...worse...M could decide that Rome was too young, too uncontrollable to use as a bargaining chip and decide to go after...

Rome gulped and felt his heart start racing...M could go after Alexis and Rome would not let that happen, he didn't even want to picture his sister in this predicament and he wouldn't let her replace him or join him. He had to protect her however possible; it was a brother's job to protect his sister no matter what the age difference. M would not get Alexis too…not if Rome had anything to do with it.

Rome moved to adjust himself, his legs were getting cramped again, but he noticed something new, his wrists were sliding around in the zip-tie pretty freely, did that mean M hadn't tightened it as much as before?

Carefully Rome wiggled his hands, pain shot through his body as the plastic dug into his wounds but this didn't stop him. He twisted and wiggled as much as he could and after a few minutes he felt the tie slipping, he also felt something wet dripping down his wrists and had a feeling what that was. But he was more determined than before he could get them off they were sliding off.

Finally, Rome gave one final tug and suddenly his left wrist was free. His shoulder popped and cracked as he brought his arms in front of him, the work light M had left on swayed over-head and Rome gasped in pain and horror when he saw his wrists, what he had figured was a little blood was, in fact, a lot of blood. His wrists were dripping and were so cut up he actually felt a little sick to his stomach. But the important thing was he had gotten his hands loose, he slid the other end of the zip-tie off.

He pulled off his school vest and pressed it to his left wrist, easily the worst of the two. It was bleeding heavily and Rome was a little afraid it wouldn't stop. His right was sore, definitely cut up, but not bleeding as much. He winced as the wool material connected with the open wound and he slowly counted to ten, holding back on crying out.

When it appeared the bleeding had finally slowed, he double checked it, a little disturbed by how bloody his school vest now was.

Rome reached the door and was dumbfounded to discover it wasn't locked, the door opened easily.

What the heck, he thought, pushing it open wider, carefully he slid out and looked around him, maybe M had assumed the zip-tie was enough, maybe he had been so frustrated with Rome he just wanted to get him secured and leave, not securing him enough evidently

Rome's heart was racing a mile a minute as he stood up. He took a deep breath and walked to the door M had brought him through, the one that led to the hallway. Carefully he pushed the door open a crack and concentrated on the floor, feeling for any vibrations that would tell him someone, specifically M was coming, but Rome didn't feel anything.

He pushed the door open further and stepped out into the hall way, there was light coming from the windows, it was daytime, he was right, he just wasn't sure which way to go now.

Left or right, he couldn't decide. M had brought him left to go to the other room, but what if that was a dead end, would it be better to go to the right and risk getting lost?

I just want to go home, I just want to go home, Rome thought. He took another deep breath and walked to the right.

His foot made walking tough, every bit of weight he had to put on it was excruciating and Rome had to bite his lip to keep the tears back. He really felt like he had no more tears in him, but he couldn't help it, he was so scared so tired, he just wanted to go home, he wanted his dad to pick him up and hold him close, he wanted gram and Alexis to hug him and kiss him, he wanted to hug Balto and feel his soft fur under his arm, he wanted his mom to hug him and kiss him.

Be strong, be safe, be smart, Rome repeated in his mind; his dad's words playing over and over as he walked down the hall, searching for two things, a way out and possibly a bathroom if that happened to appear first.

Rome could remember everything he had ever helped his dad with for his books, all the stints he had done helping his dad with a scene for his books. Rome had been suspended from the ceiling in a harness, locked his father in a box, been locked in a room himself, picked his dad's pocket, even broke into the loft, all sorts of things in the name of research and Rome had always handled them with humor and awe of his dad's imagination.

This whole thing even though it was real, it was no different than any other scene his dad had written for Derrick Storm and Rome knew how Derrick Storm would handle himself in this situation...well, in all honesty, he'd have fought M, but Rome knew he could be sneaky like Derrick Storm and Rome knew Derrick Storm was basically his dad's alter ego on page so Rome was doing what his dad would do in this situation he would find a way to escape.

The corridor seemed to go on forever and Rome was trying to be careful where he stepped. He didn't know what was on this floor and did not want to hurt his foot any more than it already was.

As he turned a corner Rome saw a door partly ajar. Inside he saw the remnants of a bathroom, a toilet and a sink, he sighed with relief and even though he knew escape should be number one priority he couldn't wait anymore.

When he was finished, Rome continued on his way, a feeling gnawing away at his stomach that he had just made a big mistake with that rest stop.

He picked up his pace and felt his heart match his footsteps. He saw light coming from a cracked door and Rome, thinking it was a way out hurried towards it pushing it open.

It wasn't a way out, in fact, it was an office of some sort, a desk, computer chair, a computer itself, things you'd expect to find in an office, compared to the decrepit and graffiti-filled factory though this room seemed homey like Rome had walked into a different building altogether.

He was about to turn around and keep going when something caught his eye.

"Dad?" Rome said softly walking over, after his confinement in a room with a weak light Rome was struggling to adjust his vision to the brightly warm lit room. He was taken aback at seeing what he thought was his dad standing off to the side of the room near the bookcase. "Dad you came! You figured it out! I knew you would! Quick we have to get out of here I don't know where-"

When Rome got closer though and rubbed his eyes he felt the relief drain from his body, it wasn't his dad...it was a cardboard cutout like the bookstores would have to display his books.

He bit his lip as the tears welled up in his eyes. He just wanted to go home; he wanted his dad so bad, so bad that he had mistakenly thought a cardboard cutout was his dad.

Then Rome looked behind the cutout all his dad's books, every single one was here. Even his first one. The only person Rome knew who had all his dad's books in first edition hardcover was…was well, his dad.

Rome had never seen anyone who had all of them like this, even his dad's diehard fans didn't have In a Hail of Bullets, not in first edition hard cover…at least he didn't think they did.

Now Rome was curious, was this M's office? He looked behind the desk, pictures, then Rome turned around, there were photographs everywhere all of his dad, detective Beckett, detective Ryan, and Esposito, Captain Montgomery and Dr. Parrish, even Gram, Alexis all going about their day to day lives.

What really freaked Rome out, what really made his blood run cold, was the pictures of him. Everywhere. At school, playing at the park with his friends, the museum with his dad, walking to and from school with Alexis, there was even one of him at his dad's book release last year, and he was circled in red marker.

Some of these pictures were old; M had been planning this for at least a year if not more because Rome saw himself getting younger as he went down the row of pictures. Some of these pictures were of Rome when he was barely two. His stomach dropped, these pictures were from the loft…no one else besides his family had these pictures…somehow M had gotten them, but how?

Then Rome saw the clincher that pushed his level of fear and anxiety over the edge...his art work, more specifically his missing artwork.

The previous spring, Rome's art teacher had hosted a Spring forward for Art Show for the elementary and middle school side, grades1-8 were allowed to participate and could submit as much art as they wanted, it had to be approved by Ms. Hawkins, but there was no limit to how many submissions each student could have.

Rome, who was extremely proud of his art, submitted a number of his sketches including two specific ones…which had gone missing a week or so before the show.

Rome had been disappointed and heartbroken that his sketch of Gram on stage and his rough draft cover art for his Derrick Storm graphic novel gift for his dad, had gone missing right before the show, and they had never turned up which made it even worse because they were special to him.

Now he knew what had happened to them, M had stolen them, he also realized WHERE he remembered M from…the man at his art show, the one who had talked to him, told him he had talent, and that it was beneath him to want graphic novels to be his future. The man who had freaked Rome out so badly he had gone looking for his dad…

Rome felt sick to his stomach, his body began shaking and now he was done, he wanted out of there NOW.

He only hesitated for a second; he wanted to take his sketches with him, they were important to him and to have them back meant a lot, but… Rome also knew he was wasting precise time, M could be back any moment, which meant Rome left his sketches behind.

He ran out of the office and back into the hallway. He was ignoring his foot now, and just running as fast as he could go, hoping he was going the right way. Right down the corridor, a left down another, he had to be getting close, how big was this factory anyways?

Rome ran past some more graffiti and he wasn't sure why but it caught his attention, he stared at it as he ran by, putting it to memory.

Another few feet Rome stopped, he could feel the cool air, there was a breeze which meant…there had to be a way out! He felt renewed hope and began running towards the breeze, he'd be home soon, he could get out of here, find someone to help him, call his dad, call detective Beckett, even if her and his dad weren't friends anymore she'd still want to help Rome.

Now Rome saw light coming from another door but this time his eyes were adjusted enough that he knew that wasn't artificial light; that was real sunlight, he was almost out of this, he was going home.

Quickly Rome ran at the door, he pushed it open and breathed in the fresh air, he was outside finally. It was a dirt parking lot, in the distance, Rome could see the city, his home. He wasn't that far, he WAS in the Bronx, he had been right. He had never been so happy to see the skyscrapers in his entire life.

      

                                                        

It was the afternoon, he couldn't tell what time exactly, but still early enough that he could probably find someone to help him, there had to be someone that could help him, help him get home.

Home… he thought I'm going home¸ dad I did it, I'm coming home. With renewed hope, Rome started to run.

Suddenly, Rome felt someone pick him up,

"HELP!" He screamed as loud as he could, but the person slapped their hand over his mouth and carried him back into the factory. The person leaned close to Rome's ear, being that close there was no issue with Rome hearing,

"Nice try Roman…very nice try, but I do hope that was worth it because the consequences for that action will be severe."

M carried Rome back to his office then set him down, his large hand easily restrained Rome's small wrists as he dug his fingers into Rome's wrists, making sure the boy was compliant. Rome bit his lip, trying not to cry out.

"I just want to go home, please, please just let me go home, I don't want to help you anymore, I just want to go home."

Using one hand, M reached into his pocket and pulled something out, Rome couldn't see what it was, but took the chance to struggle a little, which M responded with tightening his hold on Rome's wrists, and Rome knew, if M really wanted to, he could snap Rome's wrists without even thinking.

Suddenly…his world which had been very quiet, went up a few notches as Rome felt his hearing aids returned to his ears. He wasn't sure if he felt better having the familiar devices back on his person or if he wanted them off…at least without the hearing aids he could ignore M, pretend he couldn't hear him, with the hearing aids, he didn't have that same excuse. But he knew that M wanted him to hear whatever he was about to tell him.

"Your job is not done yet Roman; I decide when you go home if you go home at all. I do not care one bit if you don't want to help me anymore, it makes no difference what you want, you are a child you do as you are told. However, if you really do miss your family it can be arranged for you to see at least one of them,"

For a second Rome didn't question that statement…then he felt cold, ice cold as he understood where M was going with this.

M reached forward and pulled down a picture of Rome and Alexis together, walking home from school, M pushed it right under Rome's nose so he had a good look at it and he understood instantly.

"No," he said softly

"Anymore stunts like that, any more misbehavior from you, and I will bring your sister here. It would not be difficult, with the state your father is in right now she would be easy to snatch, and besides, I think she would come willingly if I offer her the location of her little brother."

"Leave her alone!" Rome shouted, he cried out as M dug deeper into his wounded wrists "you leave my sister alone! You stay away from my sister!"

"Do we understand each other now Roman?" M paused "you behave, do exactly as I say, you will go home, do not, and you will find your sister in a crate opposite you and believe me her job will not be to draw pretty pictures for your father."

His entire body tense, Rome nodded he couldn't let Alexis come here…no way and if that meant he had to stop trying to escape…ignore all his instincts to get away and accept his instinct to protect his sister…then he would.

"I…I understand…" he said, tears welling up in his eyes "I'll be good, just please, leave her alone, leave my sister alone."

"Good choice Roman…good choice." M paused and led Rome out of the office "now let's see exactly how you managed to escape in the first place, make sure we rectify that."

Xxx

M put Rome back into the cage. He did do the decent thing first and at least bandage Rome's mutilated wrists. He didn't clean the cuts like Rome's dad would've done, so the bandage stung, especially when M put the zip-ties back on Rome. He also didn't even look at Rome's foot.

Rome fought back his tears as he accepted defeat. All he could think of was protecting his sister...he had to comply, behave so that M would leave Alexis alone. Just to keep things in perspective, M left the photograph of Rome and Alexis together in the cage, near Rome's feet.

A cold wave shot through Rome's body as M slammed the cage door shut, securing it with the combination lock.

Rome felt so hopeless, but there was a comforting thought that entered his brain, his sister was safe. Even if this all ended badly, even if…Rome closed his eyes for a second at the thought, even if he never went home, he knew at least Alexis was safe and she would take care of their dad.

He didn't mean to be looking at the cloud as opposed to the silver lining, but there wasn't much hope floating around the tiny cage at least not enough to spare. This was even truer when M turned out the one light, putting Rome into complete darkness.

It was at that moment, that Rome realized that M had left his hearing aids in and he was confused at first as to why.

It didn't take Rome long to understand M's sinister motive. He could hear every noise, every creak, groan, drip, bang, and scurrying noise that the old factory made.

That had to be it, M was continuing to punish him for his escape attempt, at least when Rome was in silence his imagination didn't turn each normal sound he couldn't hear into some giant rat or worse…cockroaches coming to eat him.

The dark wasn't the problem, Rome could handle the dark, but dark with noises was a different story.

Rome pulled his knees as close to his chest as he could, (not an easy task with his hands behind his back) and rested his head on his knees.

A loud bang from somewhere in the factory echoed into the room and Rome jumped up in fear. And for the first time in his life…the first time since he was first given his hearing aids as a little kid, he began begging, pleading for his hearing aids to die, just let them stop working, let the noise…

Oh god, there was another bang followed by more scurrying somewhere in the factory and Rome yelped loudly. He couldn't help it, the tears raced down his cheeks.

Something with more than four legs ran by the cage and Rome moved away from the noise, his imagination going into overdrive…something was out there, something was stalking him.

Rome wasn't afraid of much, most bugs, animals, scary stuff, he loved it all, he was pretty fearless, but if he had to pick something he was terrified to death of it would be cockroaches and bees.

His dad could never figure out why cockroaches, he couldn't decide if it was Rome watching Men in Black then finding a similar bug like in the movie in his sneaker as a toddler, or if it was just one of those unfounded fears.

Rome's fear of bees was understandable, Rome was extremely allergic to bee stings so he tended to stay away from them…but Rome knew there were no bees in the factory…but cockroaches, on the other hand, the city was crawling with them and who was to say this building wasn't infested.

He heard clicking on metal as something came into the crate; he scrunched himself up as close to the back of the cage, trying to make himself as small as possible. He yelped again when something brushed up against his feet.

"Go away go away!" Rome cried out "please just go away! Leave me alone…please, pl…please" whatever it was seemed to be spooked by Rome's outburst and scurried off, for the time being.

All the noises seemed to get louder and Rome was done, he started rubbing his head against the bars of the cage, trying to dislodge his hearing aids.

He was afraid he was going crazy, he was losing his mind sitting in the dark with all these unknown noises. It was possible, he'd seen something on the Discovery Channel about it, some people could be in total darkness and be fine, but some people went nuts after only a few minutes, what if he was one of those people, what if he was losing his mind.

There was no way his hearing should be this good, it was impossible. He shouldn't be able to make out these noises, even with his hearing aids.

"Dad," Rome sniffed "please dad, I can't take this anymore. I just want to come home. I tried to be smart, it backfired I couldn't do it, I'm trying to be strong but I'm so tired…I'm hurting so much, my wrists, my foot, my head, my stomach. I just want you…I want you to make it all better. I want to be home, I want to be home with you, Alexis, gram, I want mom to come to New York, hug me…please, I just want to come home…"

Rome kept talking, ironically it made him feel better. He was never one to complain at least seriously, but he wanted to complain, he wanted to vent, so he just kept talking, venting to his dad as if his dad was right there next to him, trying to comfort him.

His dad's face entered his mind, dad, Alexis, Gram, mom, Gina, all his friends, his teachers, Detective Beckett, everyone in Rome's life…even his stuffed wolf, all their faces flashed before him and slowly Rome's eyes became heavy, he wasn't in a cage, he was in his dad's arms, he was being held tight, Balto was tucked under his arms, all of this it felt so real, what time was it? What day was it? Rome didn't even care anymore, he just wanted to sleep…just wanted to go home.


	11. Chapter 11

"Wake up my boy," M's chilling voice roused Rome. He slowly blinked trying to register where he was, forgetting for just a moment. He knew he hadn't been asleep very long, maybe an hour, maybe two. "We have a lot of work to do and I do not believe you were given permission to sleep."

M reached over and did the combination, even though Rome was still half asleep, he was able to watch, he saw the combination… five, twenty-eight, ten…back to five.

In his mind, Rome repeated the numbers over and over, committing them to memory. M didn't even notice he was being watched. When the lock clicked, M opened the door and gestured for Rome to come out.

Rome felt so weak, he could barely stand. He hadn't really been thinking of it, but now Rome realized he was starving and thirsty. A single cornflake a glass of gross water was not exactly a meal.

M led him down the hall, even having to support him at some points because Rome's legs wouldn't work right. Rome didn't even know if he'd be able to pick up a pencil to draw…his wrists were so sore and burned with the slightest movement and M hadn't even taken the zip-tie off. Rome couldn't imagine what it was going to feel like when he did.

As soon as they were in the room with the table, M pushed Rome into the chair. Hard. He knelt down next to the chair and Rome heard jingling, he looked down and was unable to keep the horrified look off his face. M had handcuffs.

Attached to a ring on the floor under the chair, a long set of cuffs were waiting for him, M took the cuffs and snapped each on around Rome's thin ankles, Rome shuddered as the chill ran up his leg.

"Just to be sure you don't wander off this time," M explained sarcastically. "You have far too much work to do, therefore we will minimize the distractions."

Rome couldn't reach the floor to being with, so the cuffs were stretched to reach him, which meant Rome could barely move even a little bit.

Once M was sure Rome wasn't going anywhere, he undid the zip-tie. He placed the sketch pad and utensils in front of Rome.

"I do not care the order they go in, but I insist that the following drawings be completed. You will draw a locker scene, Grand Central station to be specific. The image must be looking into the locker rooms. Draw what you will Roman, but you must include Locker 515. Also Roman, please do not make it so obvious that it is Grand Central; I allowed Washington Square to slide, but I would like for these little hints to be challenging."

Rome nodded, keeping his eyes cast downwards at the art materials in front of him.

"I would like Central Park, you have artistic license Roman, but I must insist that this Hotdog Vendor be included." M pulled out another photo, this time of a hotdog vendor. He could be any one of them scattered around New York, but this guy was a little different. His cart looked like a circus, pinwheels, bubble machine, balloons, streamers, it was amazing and eye-catching. M placed colored pencils in front of Rome. "Just in case you feel colorful." Rome made a face trying to ignore M's stupid joke. "When you finish, you have four more drawings to complete."

"Four!?" Rome couldn't help exclaim as his head shot up. M narrowed his eyes at Rome.

"All of these places Roman and the last two if you could I want detail, especially the last one if you please, you have two hours and I will be in to check on you. I expect these to be done in a timely fashion Roman. Please get to work." M dropped a pile of photos and started to leave.

Rome turned in his chair quickly, forgetting just for a second that he was shackled to the floor.

"Wait, M, Sir,"

M turned around; he seemed pleased by Rome's politeness, Rome, on the other hand, felt like someone had punched him in his stomach. He was a polite kid, even when someone didn't deserve it, but this was way different and he was literally forcing himself to be polite to M, Alexis' face still on his mind.

"Yes?"

"Sir, please, I'm so hungry and so thirsty. Please, can I have something to eat?" He felt like Oliver Twist asking for more. His mind flashed back a few years to when Gram had taken him to see Oliver on Broadway, a close friend of hers was in it, playing Mrs. Bedwin, it was one of the rare times Rome was able to enjoy the musical because his hearing was behaving.

"I seem to recall you turned your nose up at my offer of food."

Rome started to protest that accusation but kept saying Alexis' name over and over in his mind, stopping himself from speaking up. The mantra his dad had gotten stuck in his head 'be safe, be strong, be smart,' had been replaced by his own mantra 'behave, behave. Must protect Alexis, must keep Alexis safe, no matter what.' Trying not to make a sour face, Rome took a deep breath

"I apologize for that sir, it was wrong and rude of me. Please, I am very sorry. I would like to eat now."

M nodded, he left the room briefly and returned with a bowl and a plastic cup. He filled the cup at the sink and placed both it and the bowl in front of Rome, before leaving the boy alone.

 

                                  

Rome timidly reached forward and took a small handful of the cornflakes. He ate one and nearly gagged, they were stale, as if M had left them out in the elements.

Cornflakes should not be chewy and Rome quickly took a sip of water and choked it down. He was so hungry and so thirsty, but his body was not impressed with the meal laid out for him.

He knew beggars' couldn't be choosers, but seriously…if Rome had to be honest with himself, he knew this was the same bowl of cereal he had refused earlier…or the day before whenever it was.

M clearly wasn't planning on any variety in his captive's diet. If Rome refused the cereal a second time, he might not see food ever again. M clearly didn't care about Rome's wellbeing and he didn't seem above starving Rome into compliance.

So, trying not to gag, Rome forced himself to eat the stale cereal and drink the gritty chlorine tasting water. He felt like he was drinking a pool, and, considering how much water he had swallowed as a toddler learning how to swim, he knew what he was talking about.

When he finally finished, Rome felt sick to his stomach, like he was going to throw up. He took two deep calming breaths. If he got sick he'd have no place to go, he was chained to the floor and would definitely be a reason to make M mad.

Begging his body to listen to reason, Rome reached for the pictures that M had left, hoping those could distract him, he was curious to see what M wanted to be drawn this time.

Grand Central Station, check; Central Park with a hotdog vendor, check; the North American Mammals hall at the Museum of Natural History, Rome blinked, but shrugged to himself, random but okay, check. However, it was the last three photos that made Rome's blood run cold. The first he recognized instantly; it was his school's art room.

It was definitely a recent photo too, because Rome could see his classmates inside, not only that but he could see himself sitting next to his best friend Todd. He squinted and looked closer, recognizing when this photo had been taken, M had taken this photo the day he kidnapped Rome.

The last two picture were also disturbing, but it took him a second to recognize them. The first was of an office and at first, Rome didn't recognize it…then he realized he'd been there before, lots of times in fact, that was Gina's office, M had a photograph of Gina's office. She wasn't in the picture, but it was her office, his stomach dropped knowing M had gotten that close to Gina's office, that close to her.

The last picture also took some studying on Rome's part, it was a stage, but it could've been any theater stage in New York, there was nothing recognizable about it, at least not at first.

Then Rome looked carefully, off to the side of the photograph, waiting in the wings to head out on stage…was his grandmother.

Gram…M had taken a picture of Gram and now was making Rome copy it? What was this guy's game? Rome was pretty smart but none of this made sense in his mind.

His hand shaking, Rome reluctantly picked up the charcoal pencil and began to work on M's first sketch; Grand Central Station, lockers.

It was as basic and as uncreative and even less inspiring as you could get, but Rome knew he had to leave a clue in there for his dad. When M had made Rome draw Washington Square, it had only been one picture. Now a few hours later (possibly more, Rome wasn't really sure of the time anymore) he was being forced to draw six detailed pictures.

There had to be a reason, maybe something was going on, maybe his first clues had worked and his dad and the detectives were closing in on M's operation. So maybe M was speeding up the time table as a result.

Rome knew he couldn't back down though; he had to get clues in these sketches. Thanks to his escape attempt, he now knew exactly what borough he was in; he was right…he was in the Bronx. He had to think of a way to tell his dad that, but nothing came to mind, his brain was on the verge of crashing hard and Rome couldn't think straight.

There had to be a way…Okay, forget the Bronx for a second…what about the graffiti, it was all over the place at the factory and some of it was repetitive. It clearly meant something to the artist and Rome wondered if that design was significant, maybe a gang tag or something.

Whatever the reason Rome had to find a way to include it…but how to include graffiti on a pretty clean locker, especially without being noticeable.

Then a light-bulb went on in Rome's head, a janitor sweeping up trash. That would be realistic in the sketch and Rome knew he could add a piece of paper with the sketch of the graffiti to the pile of trash the janitor was sweeping up. He even gave the janitor a name badge to catch his dad's attention, Alex. His dad's legal name was Richard Castle, but he hadn't always had that name.

Rome knew that he had been born Richard Alexander Rodgers and had changed his name to Richard Edgar Castle when he started writing. Not many people knew that fact, especially not fans, so Rome placed a bet in his mind that M wouldn't know it either and would not be suspicious of a janitor sweeping trash, named Alex.

The hardest part of the drawing ended up being the graffiti itself, Rome had a pretty good image of it in his mind, but trying to replicate it was tough, he could draw pretty much anything from memory and this was no different, it was just tricky and when it was finished, Rome was actually pretty proud of himself.

The hotdog vendor was a little different. M had said the only requirements on that was that this vendor had to be in Central Park, didn't matter where in Central Park.

Okay, the first part of the drawing was easy; Rome put the vendor near the Central Park Zoo. He hoped his dad would see that and realize the zoo was significant, showing that Rome was right about where he was, he was in the Bronx. But he needed to add more, there had to be more to give his dad to help him find him.

So Rome thought it over, what did he know about where he was that might help his dad. He knew he was in an old factory in the Bronx, you could see the skyscrapers from it and it was infested with something. Rome shuddered at that thought and tried to get his brain back on task.

He looked up at the light then over at the sink, that was something too, it had running water and it had electricity. How many factories not in actual operation, but still used electricity and water could there really be in the Bronx?

What about random things. He had the vendor next to a sign for the zoo, but what if he put a stream next to that, with a little bridge going over it, that didn't technically exist in that area of the park, but it would represent running water at least Rome hoped that was the idea.

But what about electricity? That was going to be tricky…then Rome thought it over, even if he didn't have his hearing aids on, he would know that this place was running on regular electricity, if M was using a generator, Rome would've been able to feel the vibrations.

As far as Rome could tell, only three rooms were using electricity, the room with the cage, this room, and M's office. Which meant that M was using only the minimal amount of power, a little bit of power being used in a great big factory that had to stand out. The question was, how to tell his dad that.

Maybe…

Maybe someone dressed up to represent someone famously connected to electricity.

Rome thought it over, his mind drifting back to all the times he'd been to the park, there was one time that stood out among the others. It had been three years ago, Central Park was hosting a World History Day, people were dressed up as famous figures in history, totally in character you could go up to any one of these people and ask them questions and they would tell you all about themselves and their significance in history.

The whole Castle family loved history so all three of them had a blast, Rome especially. He had met so many people from history, some of his favorite historical figures, many of whom he idolized; Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington, Einstein, Emily Dickens, Marie Curie, Fredrick Douglas, even Winston Churchill. Rome had been in his glory and had so much fun talking to these famous historical figures. But the two he was most anxious to meet and talk to were Beethoven of course and Nikola Tesla.

Rome was fascinated by the globes in the science museums with electricity floating around inside, a product of Tesla's work. Rome thought it was so cool how he could put his hands on the glass and the electricity danced under his finger-tips. Rome thought Nikola Tesla was the greatest inventor in history, he idolized him.

So when it had come time to do school reports on a person in science, Rome had picked Tesla, on the basis that not many in his class had ever heard of the man, the father of electricity.

 

                                                                                        

Rome knew that if he placed different figures in history walking around the park, with a sign celebrating world history day and added Nikola Tesla, his dad might figure it out. It was a long shot, but it was a shot.

What would appear to be a regular crowd scene, Rome would include people who bore a striking resemblance to Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt, and of course, Nikola Tesla.

As he set to work on the other drawings, reluctantly on the three really personal ones all Rome hoped was that his dad would figure this all out, he wasn't sure how much more M intended to do or more importantly, how much more Rome could get away with. He knew he was pushing the boundaries.

By the time he had finished those two drawings, Rome's hand was stiff, his entire body was. The metal cuffs around his ankles were rubbing into his skin when he tried to stretch. He was also getting thirsty again...not hungry though, his stomach was queasy, he felt like he was going to be sick.

He was also feeling dizzy, like the room was spinning, carefully Rome pushed the sketch pad away, just in time, as he found he couldn't stay up anymore, he swayed a little bit, before crashing hard to the floor.

xxx

Jordan Carlson was already tired, he was tired of being on that jackhole Sebastian's beck and call and doing all his dirty work. Tired of running around the city leaving clues like some stupid game of capture the flag. Then there was the kid, the stupid kid if running around doing all the work wasn't bad enough Sebastian also had Carlson babysitting the author's whiny little brat.

Rome hasn't been so bad at school when Sebastian made Carlson be at Marlowe prep to gather info on the Castle kids but now Rome's little kid side was pushing Carlson's already short-fused buttons.

The why Sebastian was doing all this was the kicker, Sebastian's deep thinking reason for kidnapping Rome Castle, to fulfill some insane personal vendetta he had against the author and his mother.

The kids were just pawns in the game and in all reality Carlson did worry a little about Rome's future when this thing was all over. Sebastian had claimed all he cared about was the book and Castle accepting that he needed the former publisher, but it was also about punishing Rick Castle and Martha Rodgers and what better way to do that than take one of the most important a things in their life away from them permanently, it had only been a few days and already Carlson knew the damage that had been done on the family.

Sighing Carlson shook his head. Maybe it was time to get out of this whole thing, he was already going to be charged with accessory to kidnapping probably more than Sebastian, it wasn't Sebastian who snatched Rome off the street that was a Carlson. He was pretty much a scapegoat and would take the fall if things went badly. He wasn't going to be Sebastian's scapegoat and he certainly wasn't going to go down for murder if that particular event happened to occur, hell no.

He started walking towards the main office Sebastian had run off somewhere, drop something off, whatever he had left Carlson in charge. It had only been twenty-four hours give or take since he'd snatched the kid, but already he knew the ordeal was taking its toll on the kid.

Rome was secure in the small room drawing the next set of clues. Sebastian had made it clear that Carlson wasn't to go see Rome, was to have no contact with him which was no problem for Carlson.

But as he peered into Sebastian's office Carlson saw the monitors that gave him video and audio into the small room he had Rome chained up at the table. Carlson didn't see Rome. He knew the kid was resourceful he'd already tried to escape twice and nearly succeeded the second time, hence why Sebastian had taken extra measures and chained the kid to the floor.

Where the hell had that little brat gone? Carlson took hold of the camera joystick and maneuvered the camera angle around searching the room. He rolled his eyes and groaned as he finally spotted Rome, laying in a crumpled heap on the floor.

The chair was kicked over and the table was pushed away, the sketchbook and art supplies were on the floor scattered around Rome. Like the kid had thrown a tantrum of epic proportions.

"Stupid kid what are you playing at," Carlson muttered he left Sebastian's office and hurried down the hall of the factory being careful to avoid the debris and garbage that littered the floor from homeless and punks crashing in the abandoned factory.

It had belonged to Carlson's father who had left him the property, the family business from the early 1900s, it was in bad shape and just needed to be demolished, but it's location and amenities were ideal for Sebastian's plan and he had basically taken control of it.

Carlson wasn't sure how Rome in his bare feet had managed to get through the factory to one of the exits without stepping on something, like the nails, glass, and needles Carlson was sure littered the floor.

He unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Rome was still and at first Carlson wasn't sure if he was even breathing. As he got closer he saw the rise and fall of Rome's thin chest and in spite of himself, Carlson sighed with relief.

What was wrong with the kid though? Sebastian had been feeding him and giving him water so that couldn't be the problem.

Maybe the kid was faking, some kind of tantrum revolt, the kid's father wrote mysteries and spy novels for a living, who the hell knew the limit to his own creativity let alone what he's probably passed on to the kids.

Maybe the kid was just playing possums.

Carlson reached over to Rome with his foot and nudged the boy gently with the toe of his shoe.

Nothing.

Rome didn't move.

Carlson knelt down next to Rome and shook him a little still nothing, he did notice some dried blood near Rome's mouth. Carlson wasn't a doctor but he had a feeling he knew where the blood had come from.

He carefully pulled Rome's bottom lip and looked at the inside of it, there was a good size bite mark...Carlson, who had suffered from several seizures as a child knew that mark well; Rome had chomped down on his lip. The kid must have had a pretty severe seizure to cause the damage in the room and to himself.

But what had caused the seizure. One of Carlson's duties in this whole thing had been to procure Rome's medical records from the school, which hadn't been an easy task, but he knew for a fact the kid was not epileptic. So what the hell had caused him to have a seizure?

Carlson looked Rome over carefully. His ankles were cut up from the handcuffs securing him to the floor. Carlson knew how violent some seizures could be and the way the chain was stretched told him that the seizure had caused the cuts.

The kid's wrists were pretty cut up as well; dried blood was soaking through the bandage material, probably from the damn zip ties Sebastian insisted on tying him up with.

It seemed like overkill to Carlson, the kid was locked in a dog crate that was secured with a combination lock the kid was not getting out unless the door was left unlocked like stupid Sebastian had done.

There was also a small cut on Rome's head right near his hairline which had probably come when he fell, maybe smacked his head on the table or something on the way down.

"Eeeh," Rome groaned "da?" He was waking up and was clearly out of it from the seizure.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sebastian's voice came from the doorway "I made it clear to leave the boy alone."

"He had a seizure, Sebastian," Carlson replied, "what the hell did you do to him?"

"I have done nothing. Acting runs in the family, look at his mother, his grandmother, he is also the son of a man whose acting ability is decent enough fool those morons at Black Pawn into thinking he can write. The boy is clearly faking."

"You can't fake this damage Sebastian, the inside of his lip is shredded and look at the mess, the kid had a seizure."

"It looks like a little boy threw a tantrum and now is being coddled and rewarded for bad behavior."

Carlson rolled his eyes

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." He replied "seizures are nothing to mess with, especially if the kid doesn't have epilepsy. You're going to kill this kid, you know that?"

M didn't answer he reached over and lifted Rome up, he shook the boy a little and Rome's head bounced around like a bobblehead doll.

"What a mess. Roman wake up!" He commanded, "I thought I made it clear about your behavior!"

"He's not going to answer you, you'll be lucky if he ever wakes up. There is something wrong with that kid and whatever it is he's not going to last much longer."

"Last time I checked Jordan, you are a useless computer programmer, not a doctor." M shot back as he unlocked the cuffs securing Rome to the floor.

"I may not be a doctor but I know something about seizures. You're gonna kill that kid before you finish your payback at his father, then whatcha going to do old man?"

M smiled. Carlson kept a straight face, but inside he was trying not to wince at that smile, Sebastian was clearly losing his mind at this point if he hadn't done so already.

"What will I do? Well don't forget, Mr. Castle has two children, they are not exactly a rare commodity here, this one is replaceable." M finished, he reached down and picked up the sketchbook. "Excellent, at least he was able to finish these two before his tantrum." M paused and gave Jordan a look of pure distaste "don't you have a homeless man to see in Washington Square in the morning?" he smiled a bit "wouldn't want to interrupt your run Jordan, so get some rest. I'll return our little friend here to his accommodations until he can behave. Then I must run, I do believe Mr. Castle and his team will be making their way to Washington Square as we speak. And I want to watch the terror and frustration unfold. Too bad Mr. Castle isn't well versed in following directions."

"What the hell are you playing at?" Jordan asked

"Please Jordan, you may be a bit slow, but I do expect you to be a little smarter than that. How may I ask is Mr. Castle to retrieve the next clue in our little game, if the man who will give him that clue does not have it just yet."

Jordan rolled his eyes.

"Right," he muttered

"Try not to be obvious Jordan when you're dropping things off tomorrow." M finished, he lifted Rome up and carried the still unconscious ten-year-old out of the room.


	12. Chapter 12

                                     

 

xxx

7:00 PM Friday Night

Washington Square…it was packed with people, not that anyone was surprised, it was Labor Day Weekend and a Friday night, even though it was seven at night it was still light out enough that people were enjoying the last weekend of summer.

Castle held up a copy of Rome's drawing and looked around, desperate to find the homeless guy his son had drawn, there had to be a reason this guy was in the picture sitting in that exact spot.

Panic was starting to set in, panic and exhaustion, it was twenty-four hours exactly since Rome had been kidnapped and to Castle, they were no closer to bringing his son home now than they were a few hours earlier. Castle hadn't slept in those twenty-four hours, how could he, every time he closed his eyes he saw Rome, sitting in a dog crate, tied up, crying. He heard Rome's weak voice crying for him begging for him to come to rescue him.

"Damn it where the hell is this guy?" Castle muttered

"Don't worry Castle," Ryan said coming up behind him

"We've got plain clothes canvassing the entire area, they will radio to us when they find him and we'll stick to M's rule and you and I will confront the homeless guy." Beckett explained gently "have faith Rick,"

Castle ran his hand through his hair, he had done this so many times over the last day he was surprised he wasn't going bald at this point.

Espo pushed through the crowd of people coming towards them and the look on his face was not hopeful. Quickly he tried to put on a face when he spotted Castle, but it was too late, Castle had seen.

"What? What is it?" Castle asked

"I asked around and showed the sketch to some of the regulars here, they recognized our homeless dude they said he's a regular here Nomadic Nick he calls himself."

Castle felt his spirits lift for a moment, but didn't let them get too high

"But?" he asked, feeling the hesitation

"But the guy has left for the day, he comes in around seven in the morning, stays in that same spot all day and leaves at six on the dot for parts unknown."

Castle looked at his watch and swore under his breath, another day, they were going to waste another day.

That was another day that Rome was in the hands of a psycho fan, He could feel himself breaking down, he couldn't lose it, not here, not in front of everyone.

Before Beckett could say anything to comfort her friend and partner, Castle's phone started ringing with Rome's ringtone causing all four of them to jump.

As soon as he was able to do so, Castle was changing that ringtone, he didn't think he would ever be able to enjoy the movie it came from ever again without associating it with this whole thing.

The four of them exchanged a look and Beckett silently asked Castle if he wanted her to answer it, but he shook his head. He had to do it, he had to.

"M?" he said, trying to keep his voice steady and it went against every matter of his being to stay calm.

"Ah, Mr. Storm excellent. I was hoping to speak to you."

As much as Castle hated to play along with the kidnapper's sick twisted game, he knew he had to, Rome's life depended on it and he would not risk his son's life just to argue with the man holding him.

"Y…yes. Look M, we're here at Washington Square-"

"Mr. Storm I am not a simpleton I do have a method for this game. I was hoping however you of all people would follow the simple instructions I have left for you. Are you not the world-class spy that I assumed you were? Are you, in fact, the simpleton Mr. Storm?"

"No," Castle hissed "we followed the clues,"

"Not all the clues apparently Mr. Storm. If you were to look at the drawing a little more closely you would see that something in the drawing was not done by Roman, something in the drawing is not his style."

Castle looked at the others quickly and Espo, Ryan, and Beckett poured over the drawing. They had done that so much over the last few hours none of them thought there was anything else it had to tell them.

Then Beckett looked at a sign that Rome had placed, something about a haunted house, it seemed random, but the closer she looked at it she realized there was something on the sign that didn't match up with Rome's ability. On the sign was a time, the only viable set of numbers on the drawing, a poorly drawn clock that read three with the letters PM scribbled on the clock.

It was sloppy and even Beckett knew that wasn't in the same realm of Rome's ability. She looked at Castle and held up the drawing, pointing to the clock.

"Three PM?" Castle read aloud and he heard M chuckle, the laugh going down his spine like a cold breeze.

"Perhaps you are not as dense as I feared, just a little blind and perhaps slow."

Beckett put her hand on Castle's arm, reminding him that he was not alone, he had friends there with him.

"Right," Castle replied stiffly

"Now, back to business, our mutual transient friend will be arriving tomorrow promptly at his usual time of seven. I ask Mr. Storm that you and Detective Heat stick to the schedule I have laid out and refrained from approaching the transient until the appointed time of three PM. That goes to the rest of your team as well. Do we understand each other Mr. Storm?"

"Perfectly," Castle took a deep breath

"Glad we are on the same page, Mr. Storm. Oh and speaking of pages, Mr. Castle, I do hope you are hard at work with your required chapter. It will be due shortly after all."

"Where am I sending it? You said you would provide an email."

"I know what I said Mr. Castle, please do not patronize me as it will not end well for yourself, and it will especially not end well for your son."

"I apologize." Castle managed to say, he was getting sick of this guy, he couldn't wait to be alone with M, show him how wrong he was to mess with one of his children.

"Good to hear, you do have a slight rudeness to you, Mr. Castle, I now see where Roman gets it from. I have had to punish him several times for his insubordination and he has learned fairly quickly to adjust his rude behavior. Very smart boy you have, a bit defiant, but trust me I will quash that shortly."

Castle clenched his fist, he was going to lose it…he could feel it, he had brought his kids up to be polite, but to also speak their mind when they didn't agree with something, to stand up for themselves, to be defiant when it was appropriate. He wanted Alexis and Rome to feel confident questioning everything in their world. Now, something he had prided himself in his kids having was working against Rome, putting him in danger.

The team could see the pressure building in Castle's face, they could feel it. M's words were striking all of them hard. Beckett knew they had to keep M calm and keep Castle calm as well, M was pushing all the right buttons, as if he was trying to get Castle to break down or flip out, testing to see what would happen first.

"Stay calm Rick, breathe, he's just baiting you he wants you to lose your cool. Just focus on Rome, keep Rome in mind."

Castle nodded, in his mind he repeated Rome's name over and over, keeping his son's face in his mind.

"Anyways Mr. Castle. The email you are to send your first chapter to is cmcnc at nync dot com. Again Mr. Castle please remind your friends not to waste time tracing the email. They will not be able too I can assure you of that, all their focus should be on the case at hand, not tracking me down."

"Un…understood. You'll have your chapter tonight."

"Excellent Mr. Castle, truly excellent. Everything is running so smoothly it is wonderful."

"I want to talk to Rome, you promised."

"Did I Mr. Castle? I do believe I said I would consider a brief video chat with your son if I was satisfied with your chapters. I never said that the video chats were a guarantee Mr. Castle you simply assumed that which was foolish of you."

"Please, this may be a game to you but it isn't to us, you are holding my ten-year-old son, he is a scared little kid. Now I want to speak to my son, please, let me speak to Rome."

There was a long pause and for a second Castle was afraid he had pushed M too far, had said the wrong thing.

"You make a sound argument Mr. Castle. So the moment I have your chapter I will, what are the kids calling it nowadays, skype you?" M seemed to sneer at the words "and you will have a five-minute chance to speak to Roman. Till then Mr. Castle, good evening."

With that M hung up with a click, Castle let out a breath and sank to the ground

"Castle!" Beckett exclaimed kneeling down next to him "Castle!"

He stared out across Washington Square, he could hear Beckett, but she sounded so far away…Castle just wanted to wake up, wake up from this nightmare…

Xxx

 

 

                                                                  

Castle didn't waste any time rushing home. He barely had a moment to say hi to Alexis and his mother before he was in his office on his computer. The faster he got this chapter finished and sent the sooner he'd see Rome…at least check on his son, make sure he was okay and try to reassure him that he was doing everything he could to get him back.

Alexis followed her dad into his office and looked at him, her eyes were red and puffy, it was impossible to tell how long she had been crying and for a moment, Castle felt guilty about leaving her home, not being with her when she clearly needed her father…but he had two children to think about and at the moment one of them was being held against his will, alone and scared.

Alexis wasn't alone here at the loft, she may be scared, but she had gram to hold her tight and promise everything would be fine, Rome had no one, Alexis was old enough to understand that and did not need to be reminded.

"Daddy?" she asked

"Pumpkin, I have to get this written"

"I know, I just wanted…wanted to ask if there was anything in Washington Square?"

Castle looked up at her and smiled gently

"Let me get this written, I promise I'll tell you everything I know." He felt Alexis hesitating at the doorway "sweetie, the kidnapper called he said he expects this chapter emailed to him tonight. If I get it to him, he'd consider letting us skype with Rome. It may be our only chance to check on him, sweetie."

More tears began running down Alexis' cheeks, but she nodded, understanding now. She backed out of her dad's office and let him write.

Castle took a deep breath, counted to ten and began typing the first chapter. He had never written something that would be as important as this one. His son's life depended on these chapters. He didn't stop, didn't hesitate as his fingers tapped the keys, letting the story flow from his imagination.

Nikki Heat woke with a start as her phone began vibrating on her bedside table, it took her a second to register the sound. She reached over and looked at the number, waking up instantly as she recognized the caller ID, Captain Montrose.

"Captain?" She asked, glancing at her bedside clock, which read four AM. No good phone calls ever came at four AM.

"Heat, sorry to wake you but we got a hot one and I need my best on the court."

"Sir?"

"Kidnapping Heat, a ten-year-old,"

Nikki felt her heart skip a beat, no case was ever easy, but kidnapping was on a different level altogether, especially with a kid involved. But Nikki was slightly confused; she was a homicide detective why would she be called in on a kidnapping.

"Sir, shouldn't the Feds be in charge of this one?"

"It's too delicate to involve the Feebies, get to the precinct as quick as you can and I'll explain," Montrose explained.

"Yes sir," Heat replied, hanging up. She jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed, before running out the door.

As she drove through the city, all sorts of images crossed her mind, mainly the last kidnapping case she had worked. The kidnapper had been found, but they had lost the child in the process, she wasn't all that comfortable with being thrown back into another one and what did Montrose mean by delicate?

Feds had jurisdiction on child abductions that was a set clear thing, why weren't they getting involved on this one?

When Heat walked into the precinct she instantly felt the tension. Roach was already there, standing outside of Montrose's office and inside with Montrose as a man Heat had never seen before. He seemed to be nodding and gesturing to a folder.

Montrose looked out of his office and saw his three most capable detectives waiting to be clued in. He held up a finger to the man and emerged from his office. Heat wasn't used to the look on the captain's face, he seemed older, weathered.

"Sir, what's going on?" Heat asked

"Seems we were personally selected to co-handle this case." Montrose explained, he nodded for the man in the office to come out "detectives this is Mr. Derrick Storm, the four of you will be working together to find our missing kid."

"Sir," Raley spoke up "I'm still a little confused, why are we getting this case?"

Heat and Ochoa exchanged a look and nodded, both glad that Raley had stepped up and asked what they were all thinking.

"I can explain that," Storm replied, he held up the article that Jameson Rook had written about Heat, she cringed at it as did Roach, but no one said a word. "I've read all about you three, three of the finest detectives in the city, if not the entire country. And right now I need the finest." Storm paused tucking the article back into his jacket, he pulled out another photograph, this time of their missing child "this is Watson, he's the son of a good friend of mine, a mystery author who consults with different agencies from time to time. The kid is a computer wiz and an artist, even at ten he's already on the FBI's watch list as a future cyber-threat agent. A lot of these mini hackers we can see them going either way either a potential asset or a potential menace, but not this kid, he's a good kid, likes to test boundaries what ten-year-old doesn't, but overall he's a good kid. He gets good grades, is polite as they come, and plays sports. Anyways he was supposed to walk home from school yesterday and he never arrived. It's possible he got into the wrong piece of information and that's who has him, but I've been snooping around, the more likely scenario is that Watson was snatched because of his potential."

"Mr. Storm," Heat started

"Derrick please,"

"We're homicide not missing persons."

"And you're the best at what you do, look this kid his father is a good friend, more than that he's like a brother to me. My agency feels it's not worth our time to look into this, I'm the only one besides his family who has seen how good at this computer stuff that kid is and I know the danger Wat is in both to himself and to this country. I told you he's one of the best hackers I've ever met of any age. That kind of talent gets into the wrong hands? The North Koreans, former Soviet sympathizers, the Middle East? We're talking the potential shut down of our entire society, the end of the US, a domino effect."

"How long has he been missing?" Ochoa asked

"Twelve hours, give or take. Surveillance caught the kidnapping, but aside from Wat and the van itself it's impossible to make out anything." Storm pulled out a laptop and brought up the surveillance feed, "Wat is walking, walking then this van pulls up just as he walks by, he's gone vanished." He paused "and of course since this is New York,"

"No one saw anything," Heat finished and Storm nodded. Heat looked at Roach and Montrose who all nodded "I don't know how much help we can truly be Mr. Storm, but we'll do our best."

Storm nodded, closing his laptop

"There's one other thing you detectives should know about Watson." The three detectives exchanged a look "Watson is deaf, I doubt whoever has him is going to know that and once they realize it, I guarantee it won't take long for them to get frustrated with him. When Watson gets nervous or scared he shuts down, he can read lips, but when he's scared he won't look anyone in the face. I've seen it happen, if that happens, well, to be honest, it doesn't make me feel good about this whole thing."

Heat patted Storm on the arm, reassuring the agent as best she could

"Nothing else is important right now, just helping get him home safe."

"Thank you, Detectives, shall we get started?"

Castle sighed and leaned back in his chair, reading what he had just written. It certainly wasn't his best work and he found himself praying that it was enough to satisfy M. It covered the criteria that the kidnapper had set up; both Detective Heat and Derrick Storm were in it, as were the Captain and Roach. Later chapters could include Dr. Perry, but this established the basics for the time being.

Reading it over once more, Castle copied the document and opened up his email. He typed in the address that M had given them and pasted the document in the email. He counted to ten one more time and clicked the send button.

The email flew from his outbox with a whoosh. All that was left for Castle to do now…was wait.

He paused, no there was more to do…Alexis should be told at least the basics for what was going on, she deserved to know.

Turning the volume up on his computer as loud as it would go, Castle left his office for the family room, keeping an ear towards his office, to hear the familiar noise of an incoming Skype call.

Xxx

Meanwhile, in his office, M was patiently waiting for Castle's chapter. Roman's little escape attempt had been a close call.

The boy was resourceful he had to give him that. His father had clearly taught him some tricks like a trained monkey of sorts. Sebastian never expected the fight Roman put up, however.

Twenty-four hours in that crate should have weakened the boy, broken his spirit, something. But instead he was more defiant, at least he was. Apparently, the secret for controlling one Castle child was to threaten the other.

Sebastian had expected Roman to defend his sister, but he never expected the boy to give up so easily, just to protect her. Early, Sebastian had to admit he had regretted only snatching one of the Castle children, originally the idea of having the set was intoxicating.

But looking at the details now, he couldn't have planned this better. Roman was willing to give up his freedom, his own safety and possibly his own life to protect his sister, which made him completely compliant. The perfect child, the perfect little pawn.

Then there was that fit he had thrown, Sebastian was not an idiot, he knew the boy had faked a seizure to either get attention or avoid doing his task, Sebastian was not sure which at that moment.

A ding alerted Sebastian to an email entering his first dummy inbox. It was the chapter from Mr. Castle, excellent timing, a full ten minutes before the appointed deadline. Sebastian smiled at his good fortune.

He wondered if this was the key to getting Mr. Castle to stick to his deadlines, if that moronic publisher of his at Black Pawn Gina Cowell used this kind of threat against him, she would have his books so much more quickly.

This was why Mr. Castle needed him; Black Pawn was clearly letting him drift through his work. He needed strict guidance and accountability and that was exactly what Sebastian was providing.

He read over the chapter and nodded his approval, it was rather short, but it was only the first chapter and was exactly what he was hoping for. Quickly he printed out the document and placed it in the waiting folder, before deleting the document. He had been so pleased that Jordan had been able to set up such an elaborate and untraceable account for him. Jordan may be an otherwise useless individual, but he was a smart one.

Now Sebastian had quite the dilemma, did he give into Mr. Castle's pleas and let him skype with Roman for a brief moment? If he did that, wouldn't he lose his edge over the mystery writer? Showing sympathy for their plight which he did not have.

Mr. Castle and Ms. Rodgers brought this whole thing on themselves, this was their fault, not his. He could only imagine Richard Castle, waiting anxiously by the computer, painfully waiting for reassurance that his son was alive. That thought alone was satisfying.

But then again, it could work in his favor to let the pair reconnect momentarily. Roman's tantrum could have made it the excuse to not allow the pair to see one another, but again, this could be the very motivation that Mr. Castle needed, allow the father to see his son and then perhaps he'll be more diligent in writing the required chapters.

What to do, what to do, such a dilemma.

Sighing, Sebastian carried his laptop down the long corridor. He placed the computer on a table in front of Roman's cage.

Slowly the boy looked up when he heard and felt the noise. He looked at M suspiciously and then at the computer but didn't say anything. M nodded his satisfaction, he had been brought up with the rule 'Children should be seen, not heard' and he had raised his nephew on that same ideology.

M was pleased to see that Roman was following that rule as well, discipline was severely lacking with the Castle children, at least with Roman, but M was pleased that the boy's defiance was wavering quickly, he would break the boy's will before this adventure was over, even if it killed the child.

M opened the Skype app on his computer and clicked on the connection Jordan had installed on the device, with the Castle family's contact information, including Richard Castle's skype number.

Rome's eyes went wide as he realized what was going on, M was calling his dad, he was going to see his dad, even if it was just through the computer. Dad…he thought weakly, moving carefully to the edge of the cage.

"Now Roman, here are the rules, I am allowing this call for your father's sake. You, however, are only to answer yes or no or I am fine, you may also acknowledge your father. That is all I would like to hear from you if any other words come out of your mouth that I do not like, not only will I put an end to this video chat and not only will another one never occur, but I ask you to remember our earlier discussion about your sister. Do not test me, Roman." M asked, "do we understand each other?"

Taking a deep breath Rome nodded

"Yes, sir,"

"Good boy,"

xxx


	13. Chapter 13

Castle rubbed his chin as he paced back and forth in his office. Beckett came in with a glass of water; she had decided to cut him off from the coffee for a while, that way he could at least get some sleep.

Martha, despite wanting to see Rome, did not want to see Rome in that situation, nor did she want Alexis to see anymore. She wanted to stay strong for her son and granddaughter and knew if she saw her grandson tied up in a dog crate, crying and begging to come home, she would break down right there and then.

So as much as she knew she may regret her decision, Martha took Alexis into her room, leaving Beckett and Castle in his office.

Both were waiting for the call, hoping that it would come, fully prepared for it to not come. Neither would admit it though.

So when the familiar sound of a Skype call came, Castle didn't even blink as he raced over to his computer, Beckett right behind him as he clicked accept.

It was the same cage he had seen the night before and there was Rome sitting inside. Thanks to the larger screen, it was easier to see Rome.

The night before, he had looked scared and tired, but otherwise fine, now Castle could see the pain he was in, the fear.

In just twenty-four short hours his son had changed dramatically. He looked defeated; there was a dead look in his eyes that Castle had never seen before. What the hell was M doing to him?!

Beckett tried to hold back her gasp of fear. When Castle had explained Rome's confinement before she hadn't really known what to expect…this was certainly not it.

A dog crate. M had Rome tied up in a tiny dog crate that was barely big enough for even the small ten-year-old to stretch out.

"Dad!" Rome cried when he saw his dad's face on the screen. His voice was weak and hesitant and the light that was always in Rome's eyes was not there, it was completely gone, the child sitting there was his son, Castle knew it, but at the same time, it wasn't Rome. He couldn't believe twenty-four hours had done this much damage to Rome.

"Romey, pal are you okay? Are you doing okay?"

Rome started to speak, then stopped remembering M's threat, he nodded

"Yes dad," he whimpered

"Rome you can hear me okay?"

Rome nodded, biting his lip

"Yes, dad,"

Castle looked closer and even with the grainy image and the skipping, he could see Rome had his hearing aids in. M must have given them to him and Castle wasn't sure how he felt about that. Wondering why M would randomly give Rome his hearing aids back.

"Romey, Detective Beckett is here, we're doing everything we can to get you home. Remember what I said, you gotta stay strong, safe, and smart Doc."

"Yes, dad,"

Castle hated how robotic Rome sounded; it was his son's voice, but that didn't sound like his son. Whatever it was that M was using to control Rome, it was working, Rome looked so defeated and it was something Castle never wanted to see on his son again.

"I love you, pal, we miss you here. Everyone's anxious for you to come home."

Rome felt the tears stinging in his eyes, he looked up at M who was tapping his watch. He wanted to tell his dad everything, tell him where he was, everything. He wanted to tell his dad he wanted to come home too, he wanted his family. But M's threat on Alexis stayed strong in Rome's mind and he knew he couldn't, he couldn't even tell his dad he loved him, M's orders were strict and that made his stomach hurt.

So instead he nodded, hoping his dad would understand, he could see the look on his dad's face, he did, he understood all of it.

"Well that was heartwarming," M's voice entered the conversation "and quite enough. I have upheld my promise, Mr. Castle, as you have upheld yours. I will contact you when the next chapter will be due. Good luck with our friend tomorrow, please be punctual Mr. Castle. Till then, Detective Heat, Mr. Castle, good night."

Before Castle could protest or shout out to Rome, the screen went black as the call ended. He let out an exacerbated moan

Beckett who had recovered from her initial shock at seeing Rome reached over and rubbed his shoulders gently. Neither said a word.

Quickly Castle stood up, he grabbed his jacket off his chair and marched out of his office, Beckett right behind him.

Martha was still with Alexis trying to get her to fall asleep. She had asked to not only sleep with Balto for the second night in a row but had also asked to stay with Martha in her room and of course, her grandmother complied.

"Castle!" Beckett said as loudly as she dared "where the hell are you going?"

"I'm going for a walk Beckett, I need to get some air."

"I'm coming with you,"

"No, stay here with my mother and daughter please…keep them safe. I… I need some time alone Beckett I need to think." He looked at her, the pain and anger fighting for first place in his eyes, she had never seen him like this, never expected to ever see him like this. "I'll be back soon." He finished and shut the door, leaving Beckett standing in the foyer of the loft.

Castle's quick walk turned into a long one, he just couldn't stop walking even though he was blocked from the loft and knew he really should be home comforting his daughter, being there for his mother, doing all he could to find his son.

Even as the skies opened up, Castle kept walking. He didn't stop until, through the sheets of rain, he saw the Washington Square Arch. He had just walked eighteen blocks and hadn't even realized it, he didn't even feel it.

He walked over to the park bench that was closest to the arch. M had said Castle wasn't to approach the homeless guy until the "appointed time" as M had made it clear, but that didn't mean Castle couldn't sit here in the park and wait for the homeless guy to come….

He was soaked and he didn't care. His son was at the moment sitting in a dog crate, crying, scared, defeated. And what was he doing? Sitting in the rain waiting for some homeless guy to give him the next clue in this wild goose chase that would bring him closer to Rome.

He closed his eyes, letting his mind drift back, back to when Rome was two…Alexis was in school so father and son went to the Bronx Zoo for the day.

"Daddy I go see the teddy bears!" Rome exclaimed as Castle helped the driver for the town car get the stroller out of the trunk. "Big teddy bear!" Castle chuckled and the driver did as well.

"And what do the bears say Rome?" Castle asked

"ROAR!" Rome said loudly making his hands into the shape of claws "growl, growl, Roar!"

"I think the kids got it, Mr. Castle," the driver said and Castle nodded

"I think he does," Castle replied setting up the stroller, Rome made a face at it and growled at the stroller "really Doc? It's a lot of walking to the bears and I wouldn't recommend it."

Rome shook his head

"I'm a big boy now!" he replied "no toller," Castle chuckled again and looked at the driver

"Guess we're leaving the stroller, Tom. Pick us up about two? That will give us time to go pick up Alexis,"

"Yay Lexis!" Rome exclaimed, he grabbed his dad's hand and tried to pull his dad towards the entrance to the zoo. "Come on daddy! Go see bears!"

"Okay Romey, we're going!" Castle replied, he picked Rome up and lifted him to his shoulders.

The bears, the penguins, the elephants, they saw all the animals they could and Rome was in his glory. When it came time for the wolves though Castle couldn't pull Rome away from them. He stood there on his tiptoes peering over the fence at the beautiful wolves as they trotted around their large enclose, played, rolled around, and slept.

"Daddy look at the puppies!" he exclaimed

Castle smiled and knelt down next to Rome

"Those aren't puppies Romey, those are wolves remember?"

"Woves?"

"Wolves," Castle repeated emphasizing the L "those are wolves, Romey."

"Not puppies?"

"Same family as puppies Rome, like cousins. Remember Balto?"

"Balto was a wolf daddy!"

"Exactly kiddo,"

"Can I have a wolf puppy daddy? I can name him Balto!"

now Castle laughed

"Remember what I told you about animals in the zoo Doc?"

"Animals in zoos are not pets." Rome replied sadly "but I like them, daddy,"

"Rome if I let you bring home every animal you liked, we'd have to open up our own zoo. Remember the elephant last time? You wanted to bring home the elephant we saw at the circus."

"Castle Zoo!" Rome exclaimed, "we have a zoo?"

"Daddy's got a big mouth," Castle retorted with a chuckle, he picked Rome up and lifted him to his shoulders

"Can we stay daddy? I like watching all the Baltos"

"Kiddo we have to go pick up your sister. We'll come back soon I promise and we can stay as long as you want with the wolves." Rome gave a heavy sigh and Castle rolled his eyes in amusement "why don't we go to the gift shop Romey you can pick something out and we'll find something for your sister. She's going to be jealous we went to the zoo without her."

Rome nodded

"Okay daddy!" he exclaimed.

In the gift shop, Castle gently put Rome down and let the two-year-old pull him over to the toys. As they headed over there, something caught Castle's eyes, sitting high on a shelf, and way out of the eye-line of any kid let alone a small two-year-old, was a stuffed animal.

About half a foot tall, in a sitting position was a wolf stuffed animal. Its gray fur had a blue tinge to it and the plastic eyes were yellow.

The stuffed animal was a dead ringer for the cartoon character of Balto from the movie. It was one of Rome's favorite movies and Castle had lost count how many times he had played the DVD for the toddler.

Now seeing this stuffed animal, this exact replica for Balto was mind-blowing. Castle had been taking the kids to the Bronx Zoo for years, even when Alexis was an infant, he brought her to the zoo, but in all those years, Castle had never seen this stuffed animal before.

He reached for it, its fur was soft and the animal was definitely huggable for a two-year-old.

"Romey," Castle called, Rome turned to look at his dad, his eyes went wide when he saw the stuffed animal.

"Balto!" he exclaimed "Balto, Balto, Balto!" he began jumping up and down happily. Castle handed the stuffed animal to the toddler and Rome hugged the wolf tight "he comes home with us daddy please?"

Castle chuckled and nodded

"Of course kiddo, Balto will come home with us. He's one of the family now."

Rome hugged the stuffed animal tighter and yawned as Castle managed to wiggle the price tag off of the wolf's ear to hand it to the cashier.

Rome was crashing fast and by the time Castle had paid for Balto, he had to reach down and pick Rome up, carrying the toddler, who soon fell asleep in his dad's arms, Balto wrapped securely in the crook of his elbow as if the stuffed wolf had always belonged there.

Xxx

Castle felt his chest tighten at that memory and another set of tears escaped his eyes. But before he had a chance to shed anymore, a bright beam from a flashlight blinded him, for a split second he thought maybe someone had called the cops about some random guy sitting in Washington Square.

"Yo Castle, that you bro?" It was Esposito; he was jogging towards the bench with a concerned look on his face that Castle could make out through the rain. "Hey," he said

"What are you doing here Espo?" Castle asked

"Beckett called, she didn't want to leave your mother and Alexis, but she was getting worried about you. Said you guys skyped with the kidnapper." Castle nodded "Rome doing okay?" Espo asked cautiously

"About as okay as he's going to be, considering his situation," Castle replied bitterly, he didn't mean to snap at his friend like that, emotions were running high, anger was quickly replacing the heartache.

Espo didn't seem fazed though

"We'll get him back Castle," Espo paused "come on bro, let's get you home, you're not going to be good to anyone if you come down with pneumonia or something."

Castle nodded and stood up, he looked over at the arch one more time, the drawing from Rome flashing in his head as he memorized the exact spot the homeless guy would be in, before following Espo back to his car.

"How'd you know I was here anyway?" Castle asked, thankful for the heat coming out of the vents in Espo's car as he warmed his hands.

"Beckett, she figured if you were going anywhere it was here. She figured you'd be sitting in the park waiting to ambush that homeless guy."

Castle chuckled a little

"Only a little tackle" he admitted.

 

                                                              


	14. Chapter 14

Xxx

Back at the loft, Beckett opened the door as Espo and Castle walked in, Ryan was in Castle's office going over their makeshift board, Beckett refused to call it a murder board and wouldn't let anyone else call it that either.

Hoping to take his mind off of the hours they would have to wait until confronting the homeless guy, Castle stared at the drawing; Rome's work, Rome's beautiful artwork. Castle brushed his hand over the piece of paper knowing that his son had held this piece of paper and created this sketch…his finger lingered over his son's signature, tracing the familiar outline, something Rome had worked so hard to make his own; the swooping of the capital R, disconnected from the 'oman', a brief pause before looping into the C with a curve to the top of it, the rest of the letters 'astle' following in succession.

Rome had long debated signing his name just his initials RCC, but Castle remembered the day he ran through the loft proudly, shouting that he had perfected it. He had his signature to sign all of his artwork, and he wanted to use his full name without his middle name of Camden, just leave it at Roman Castle.

The sketch, Castle looked at the scene before him a little more closely, breadcrumbs… his mind flashed back a few years when Rome was six…Castle was writing in his office, Rome was home from school for a bad ear infection that had made it impossible for him to be comfortable at school, he was barely able to hear anything it was so bad. He had wandered into his father's office from watching TV, looking perplexed….

"Daddy, do your characters ever follow clues? Like in Scooby Doo?"

"Of course Dr. Watson, they're in a mystery novel, they have to follow clues in order to find the bad guys."

"What if they were following clues to find a good guy?"

Castle picked the small six-year-old up and sat him in his lap

"What do you mean find a good guy Romey?"

"Like if it was a good guy and he got captured by some bad guys, but he left clues so's other good guys could find him and help him, like Hansel and Gretel did, only using something that won't get eaten by a bird."

"You mean leaving breadcrumbs?"

Rome nodded

"Like if we were playing hide and go seek, and I wanted you to find me, but I didn't want to make it easy, I could leave clues and see if you could follow them to find me."

"How would you go about leaving clues Rome? What would be your breadcrumb?"

Rome thought that over carefully, Castle loved how he'd scrunch up his face when he was concentrating on something, then grinned at his dad

"I'd draw something for you daddy, I'd draw you a picture and leave a clue in the picture about where I was, you'd have to look really carefully, but the clue would be in there."

"So like the I Spy books you like?"

"Uh huh, just like those, only no hints, you have to figure it out, you have to figure out the clues all by yourself."

"I like it Dr. Watson, very befitting a man of your caliber."

Rome grinned wider, then cocked his head to the side

"Daddy, why do you call me Dr. Watson? I'm not a doctor."

Castle shrugged

"Do you not want me to call you that?"

"I like it, I just want to know why you call me it,"

Castle thought that over for a second, it had been his nickname for Rome for as long as he could remember, like calling Alexis pumpkin, it was had happened once and just stuck.

"Maybe because you always help me with my cases, figuring out the crime, you never hold back when you think something is right or wrong. Just like Dr. Watson always does for Sherlock Holmes, you're there to keep me grounded."

Rome made a face, confused

"Grounded?" he asked "like punished? I don't punish you, Lexis does,"

Castle chuckled and hugged Rome tight

"I don't mean grounded like punished, I just mean," Castle sighed, explaining this to a six-year-old, even a smart six-year-old like Rome was not going to be easy, so instead he hugged him again "I'll tell you when you're older, but you will always be my Dr. Watson, right?"

"Right daddy," Rome hugged his dad back and kissed his cheek, before running off to play.

Castle felt his chest tighten at that memory, he felt his cheek for a second, but he went back to the drawing, Rome…if Rome drew this even under strict orders to draw something, he would do all he could to leave clues in the drawing…his breadcrumbs.

"Beckett!" Castle shouted, "Ryan, Espo, we have to get the drawing projected on something, we need to make it bigger."

Espo, Ryan, and Beckett exchanged a look

"Castle we went over that drawing with a fine tooth comb, there are no prints on it, nothing," Ryan replied

"There's a clue in the drawing itself!" Castle explained, his friends looked at him carefully.

"It's Washington Square bro, we know that the homeless guy has the next clue there's nothing we can do until morning-"

Castle shook his head,

"We have to look at it closer, there's something here, Rome is trying to tell us something I know it. Rome left us a clue about where he is, I know it," Castle fiddled with the projector, attaching it to his computer. Ryan had scanned the drawing into his computer, so they would all be able to have a copy of it.

Castle dashed into his bedroom and pulled out a white sheet to act as a screen and, with Ryan and Espo's help, he hung it up.

As soon as the drawing was projected on the screen, Ryan zoomed in on the paper, as Castle stared at it intently, searching for something out of place, something that was different from the rest of the drawing.

"Castle if this guy had Rome draw this, he probably watched to make sure he got every detail right, if there was something in the drawing that would give us a hint, he probably wouldn't have let it go." Espo explained gently. He wanted there to be a clue left by his friend's son, but he wasn't hopeful, smart or not Rome was only ten and he in a situation where an adult wouldn't be able to think rationally, let alone a kid.

"Not if he didn't know he was looking at something out of the ordinary." Castle replied he pointed to the bus going by the scene, with the advertisement for the new Sherlock Holmes movie, "see, this was done on purpose."

"Sherlock Holmes?" Ryan asked confused, but Beckett who had been quiet the last few minutes saw where Castle was going, her eyes went wide

"Dr. Watson," she breathed looking at Castle "Rome purposely drew only Jude Law, he'll be playing Dr. Watson in the new movie."

Espo and Ryan exchanged a look, they were still pretty confused,

"I still don't get it,"

"Rome's nickname, I've been calling him Dr. Watson since he was a toddler, it's a long story, but he knows I'll see that and know there's a clue in there…one that only I'd get."

With renewed hope Castle began scanning the rest of the drawing, looked, hoping to find something that jumped out at him, something that no one else would notice.

Then he saw the next clue, a sign, a small sandwich board sign, with the words 'Come Visit the Factory of Terror' written in dripping words, underneath was the carefully drawn image of Count Orlok…from Symphony of Terror.

Both Castle and Rome loved Halloween to begin with, and Symphony of Terror was one of their favorite movies, especially for Rome because it didn't require hearing to follow it, he could understand it completely just by watching, the benefits of a silent movie.

"There!" Castle exclaimed pointing to the sign

"Nosferatu?" Beckett asked and Castle looked at her, impressed that she recognized the outline too

"No, the sign, he drew Count Orlok to catch my attention, it's the sign that's important."

"The sign had the time on it," Beckett said "this little clock, Rome didn't draw that,"

"No, he didn't," Castle replied, "Rome could draw a clock better than that when he was two, he didn't draw that clock…M did."

"Factory of Terror?" Ryan asked then thought that over "wait, Factory…"

"He's holding Rome in an old factory! That has to be it," Castle exclaimed again

"Way to go Rome!" Espo added

"But an old factory where?" Beckett brought up, grounding the three of them quickly.

"There's got to be more clues in here," Castle explained "look when Rome draws something everything in his drawing has a purpose, nothing is by accident. The bus was not an accident and this sign was not an accident. Look for things that draw attention to themselves without being obvious."

The four of them stared at the screen looking for something, anything.

"Castle," Beckett asked, "what was Rome wearing when he went to school?"

"Marlowe prep has uniforms, he was wearing that," Castle replied then thought that over "and a hat…he was wearing his rough riders hat."

"THERE!" Beckett and Castle exclaimed at the same time, in the drawing walking away from the angle was a teenager, wearing the same kind of hat, carrying a chess set, falling out of the box, heading for the ground was a chess piece, the teen unaware of his lost piece kept walking in the picture. Ryan zoomed in on the image, enlarging it.

"A chess piece?" Ryan asked, then he looked closer "it's a queen, a white queen."

"Queens!" Espo exclaimed, "Do you think he's being held in Queens?"

"Wait a second Espo," Beckett replied, "Castle you said the video, the first time you saw of Rome, there were no windows right?"

Castle nodded, he had been trying to get that image out of his mind, but it refused to go

"No windows, only a work light hanging over…over the…" his voice cracked a little unable to say the word.

"And last night, I didn't see any windows either." Castle nodded "How would Rome know he's in Queens?" Beckett asked

"Yeah, she's got a point," Espo said

Castle shook his head

"I don't know…I don't know how he would know, but this is a message from Rome, I know it is."

"There has to be more to it Castle, even if Rome was sure he was in Queens, would he leave it at that?" Beckett asked

Castle thought that over and looked back at the drawing…there had to be something else, Come on Dr. Watson, what is it, what else do you have to tell me? Castle thought, then he spotted it, the tell tale sign.

"Wait Ryan see the car there, near the bus, the one with the speech bubble above it."

"The…wow that looks like a Ferrari." Ryan zoomed in on the flashy sports car "it is a Ferrari,"

Castle felt his heart skip a beat and he tried to keep his emotions in check

"It…it's my Ferrari, look at the license plate" he managed to say, now his voice was really starting to crack, it was more obvious that he was the verge of breaking down, not from grief this time, but pride and relief. "There's something on the bumper, zoom in on that will you?"

Ryan nodded, obliging

"It's a bumper sticker," Espo pointed out "Save the North American-"

"Wolf," Castle breathed, not even needing to look at the sticker to know what it said. "Rome," he chuckled as the others looked at him confused "last time we went to the Bronx zoo Rome wanted to buy a bumper sticker and put it on my Ferrari, I wouldn't let him, it said."

"Let me guess," Ryan said "Save the North American Wolf,"

Castle nodded, understanding Rome's message now completely

"The Bronx, somehow I can't explain how he did it, but for some reason, Rome seems to think he is being held in an old factory in either Queens or the Bronx." Castle explained

"It's something," Beckett said, she put a hand on Castle's arm "it's something to go on,"

Castle stared at the drawing, not even noticing her touch or her words, he was too focused on the drawing, his son's drawing.

"Way to go Dr. Watson, that's my boy."

xxx

Washington Square: Saturday morning.

He has found a corner to tuck himself into; accessible to the potential generosity of passers-by, but out of the wind and the rain that keeps making an appearance this morning. Washington Square is the perfect place to be homeless if that word can be used to describe homelessness.

Tourists take pity, especially those from different countries as they see the American dollar as some kind of monopoly money as if it is fake somehow. Some days he feels like a tourist attraction himself; part of the landscape of the park under the shadow of the arch.

His long, salt and pepper hair, mingles with a scraggly beard. The thick, mustard woolen coat that is wrapped around his frame is slowly unraveling leaving numerous holes. The corduroy jeans are worn at the knees and the pockets are useless after being stuffed with whatever he has been able to find on the streets or what he has been given. He needs new clothes, especially with it being Fall; the harsh New York winter months are not too far away. He had his knees crossed, head bowed; though he kept his eyes on the empty cup he has placed in front of himself to catch the loose change.

It was then that two feet appeared in his eye line. Interesting shoes; bright green with a big white tick on the lip. He raises his eyes slightly and sees bare leg. Huh, an enthusiastic jogger then. It isn't often a native New Yorker stops to put money in his cup. When he hears no jingling of copper falling, he lifts his head further and leans back to take in the entirety of the person in front of him.

A young man stared back, early twenties at a guess, with sandy blonde hair damp at the front from exertion.

"Here"

The jogger thrust a small red backpack into his lap which was rather heavy. The homeless man looked at it in surprise and opened it slowly, pulling out a book, and a brown, unmarked envelope.

"You keep a hold of the envelope until that guy comes looking." The jogger gestured to the picture of the author on the back cover of the book then squatted down to eye level. "and I think this will make up for any trouble, don't you?"

A $100 bill was promptly tucked into the top pocket of the weather-worn jacket before he straightened up, turned, and jogged away.

The homeless guy hadn't said a word. He had seen some strange things on the streets, so he wasn't scared or suspicious, more like mildly amused. Another prank? Probably. After he watched the retreating figure, he looked down at the book.

"Heat Wave?" he muttered to himself as he flicked through the pages. "Too chic-lit for me"

Xxx

A few hours later, "Nomadic Nick" as he was known throughout Washington Square, slowly woke up from his nap. As always he'd been in the park since seven in the morning with him, his rug, his hat, and a new piece to his caravan of belongings a kid's red backpack. He didn't give much thought to the bag itself, though it was obvious someone paid good money for this bag, it was monogrammed after all, with the initials RCC.

But it was the contents that intrigued Nick. A set of books, mostly cheap mass markets all done by the same author, with one exception, a hardcover copy of one of the author's books Storm Fall and what looked like a unpublished copy of a new book by the same author, like one of those advanced reader books he'd seen floating around the homeless shelter's library, Heat Wave.

Nick wasn't a reader not by a long shot wasn't his idea of a good time. But this author clearly had a lot of books under his belt and even if the title of this newer one sounded a bit corny to Nick, who was he to question a hundred bucks. That jogger had given him a hundred smackers just to give this backpack and its contents to that author. Nick huffed like a famous author had time to be strolling through the park.

The hours passed Nick went about his usual business waiting for donations as the visitors to the square went about their own business. Most didn't give him a second glance, most didn't care to. Nick was starting to doze off again, it was late in the day and after all the rain the night before, the humidity was growing unbearable even for a September day.

"Hey!" a voice brought Nick back quickly to reality. He blinked and tried to focus on the tall man standing over him. It took him a second to focus, but when he did he recognized the man, it was the author from the books.

"Ah, you must be Richard Castle!" Nick exclaimed "been waiting for you, I've got all your books," he added snickering a little, which was true, it looked like there was about twenty some odd paperbacks in this backpack, not to mention the hardcover and the advanced reader book.

Castle took a deep breath as Beckett joined him, she showed Nick her badge and he whistled.

"Detective Kate Beckett,"

"Nomadic Nick is what they call me," Nick replied tapping his forehead. "Pleasure is all mine detective."

"Nick, why don't you come downtown with us, we'll get you a cup of coffee and we can discuss where you got that backpack." Beckett offered

"ain't no crime to be sittin' here detective," Nick replied, "been coming to this spot going on ten years, never been heckled by cops before, especially no lady cop with a writer sidekick."

"The backpack," Castle growled, "where the hell did you get it!?"

Nick waved his hands at Castle

"Aint no reason to be like that writer man. Truth is, I was given it."

Beckett and Castle exchanged a look

"Given it?" Beckett asked, "by whom?"

"It's like this lady, just sitting here this morning, minding my own business this mornin' when this flashy jogger man comes up, tosses me this backpack. Sitting inside were this envelope and this pile of books, more spiffy like was this here book," Nick reached into the bag and pulled out the advanced reader copy of Heat Wave "Jogger man says I was to hold onto this here stuff and give it only to this man. Gave me a hundred bucks for my trouble." Nick held up the book and tapped Castle's smiling face "ain't that you writer man?"

Castle looked at Beckett again, his heart was racing, that was an advanced reader copy of Heat Wave, only a few people had them, he had a copy of course, as did Black Pawn, and his agent. Where had this one come from?

"Yes," Castle replied dryly "that's me"

"Well, I've done my part then, here you go," Nick stuffed the book back into the backpack and handed it up to Castle "make sure you check that envelope, jogger man was pretty pushy 'bout that particular instruction, ain't real sure 'bout much 'specially that early in the morning, but I remember that there instruction louds and clear."

"Wait," Beckett said "this morning Nick?"

"Sure thing, don't got no watch on me, but I'd say were about seven, that's when I usually gets my butt here."

Beckett looked at Castle, how the hell had someone gotten to Nick without being seen. It was three, they had waited to approach the homeless guy until three on the dot, but Ryan had asked a few friends of his to get to the park about seven to keep an eye on Nick…none of them had seen anyone approach the homeless man.

Beckett took a deep breath

"Nick would you say you got a pretty good look at this jogger man?" she asked carefully as Castle clutched the backpack tight, tracing Rome's monogrammed initials on the material with his fingers.

"Sure as hell, Ol' Nick don't miss a thing detective."

"Well, my offer for coffee still stands Nick, coffee and a meal in exchange you come down to the station with us and sit with a sketch artist."

Nick thought that over carefully

"I ain't under arrest am I?"

"No Nick," Beckett paused "truth is that backpack belongs to a little boy, who was kidnapped Thursday night, you may be the only one who can help us find him."

Nick sobered up pretty quick. Adults were annoying to deal with and he loved nothing more than giving it right back to them, but kids hit a soft spot in his heart, they were pretty decent, most wanted to give him money but were usually pulled away by parents. Kids didn't try and make him move from his spot neither.

He looked up Castle and saw the pain on his face, the anger and understood what was going on.

"Your kid writer man?" he asked, Castle could only nod, clutching the bag even tighter, he could practically smell Rome on this bag, he could sense his son, remembering how much Rome had hugged the bag when the monogram was finished, thanking Castle over and over for his new backpack. Nick rubbed his stubble and nodded "I'd be happy to sit with one of them artists, sees if we can get your boy back."

Xxx

Captain Montgomery stepped out of his office and stared in disbelief as Beckett and Castle walked past him with a very smelly, very scruffy looking homeless man, heading towards the break room. He really wasn't sure what was more dumbfounding, Beckett and Castle's new friend or Beckett and Castle back together. He had thought the pair was over.

Beckett looked at her captain carefully and gestured for Castle to accompany Nick to the break room where Douglas, their resident sketch artist was ready and waiting. She hoped Castle would be okay sitting in on the sketch, she wasn't sure what at this point would set Castle off. He had been holding it together pretty well, even when he ripped open the envelope to discover yet another drawing from Rome, this time of a hotdog vendor.

Montgomery stood with his arms crossed, looking confused as his best detective walked over to him. She looked exhausted.

"Beckett what is going on?" he asked and she nodded towards his office, silently asking to take the conversation somewhere more private, which he obliged to.

Once inside his office, Montgomery looked at Beckett expectantly, she sighed and sat down.

"Sir, Thursday night…" she wasn't really sure how to go about explaining this. Normal circumstances would have dictated that Montgomery be the first one she told, even if this wasn't the team's usual type of case.

Nearly two full days of her, Esposito and Ryan working on a case behind their captain's back was not something Beckett felt comfortable with and felt even less comfortable explaining it.

"Beckett just spit it out,"

"Sir, Castle's son was kidnapped Thursday night."

Montgomery's eyes went wide, then narrowed at his top detective.

"Thursday night?! How long have you known Detective?!"

"Thursday night," she admitted "Alexis came to my apartment in tears, telling me that Rome had been kidnapped. I went over to the loft to see what I could do." She paused "the kidnapper called while I was there, he has a specific list of demands."

"They usually do Beckett, but kidnappings are out of our jurisdiction! This is an FBI matter, no matter whose son it is, and letting Castle investigate his own son's kidnapping? He can't be clear-headed in this."

"Sir, the kidnapper is delusional, he thinks he's helping Castle write the greatest crime novel of the century,"

Montgomery winced a little

"Oh don't tell me," he started and Beckett nodded "Detective Heat and?"

"Derrick Storm, he thinks I'm Heat and Castle is Storm, he's forcing Castle to write the story and forcing us to follow these clues to find Rome." Beckett pulled out the latest clue and handed it to Montgomery

"Rome drew this?" Beckett nodded "damn this kid is talented. But a hotdog vendor, what kind of clue is that?"

"The first clue led us to the homeless guy sitting with the sketch artist. The kidnapper somehow got it into Alexis' backpack at school."

"Where is she now?"

"Home with Martha, Castle hired a bodyguard to stay with them. Espo and Ryan are running down a lead. We think he's got an accomplice a guy in his twenties who may have been working at Marlowe Prep."

Montgomery sighed and rubbed his head

"Beckett, any other captain would have your badge for breaking protocol like this. This is a case for the FBI, they're better equipped to handle this."

"Not this sir, with all due respect this guy isn't demanding money, he wants Detective Heat and Derrick Storm to work together and solve this case. He made a list of who can be involved, besides Castle and I, you, Ryan and Esposito, and Lanie. He wants the team from Heat Wave. That's it sir. I don't like risking Rome's life by playing this deranged game either, but this isn't a typical kidnapping case. While we're figuring out these clues, Ryan and Espo are running down leads that can put us ahead of this guy. We're already tracking the accomplice." Beckett paused "he let Castle skype with Rome last night."

"Were you there?" Montgomery asked and Beckett nodded, she had been trying to keep the image of Rome in the crate out of her head, but it was fighting for her attention.

"Yes, sir,"

"How did he look?"

"Scared, beaten in the sense like he's accepted what's happening to him." Beckett paused "I know Castle shouldn't be working this, but sir, in all reality none of us should be. We all are connected to Rome and Castle, but that's why we have to be the ones solving this. This guy, M, he wants Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm to work together, who better to do that than their creator and the detective who inspired Nikki Heat? Rome is leaving clues for his father in the drawings, clues only Castle will get, the FBI won't even give those clues a second glance, and they wouldn't listen to Castle about them, they'd waste too much time trying to negotiate with a man who has more than a few screws loose."

Montgomery sighed again

"What kind of clues?"

Beckett held out the Washington Square drawing

"Rome is sure he's being held in an old factory that is located in either Queens or the Bronx." She explained, pointing at the clues. Montgomery shook his head in disbelief at the clues left by Rome, then he nodded slowly.

"I don't like it Beckett, but you have a point. I want all attention on this, any other cases I'll make sure they go to other detectives. I figure out how to deal with the backlash of this when it's all over. You just get Castle his son back and bring the sonovabitch that took him down."

Beckett nodded her thanks and left the office heading towards Nick, Castle, and Douglas. Douglas was hard at work as Nick described in as much detail as he could about the guy who gave him the backpack. They were just finishing up when Beckett walked in.

"Yessir that's him, that's jogger man!" Nick exclaimed nodding his approval at the finished product. Douglas handed the sketch over to Castle who stared at it, his stomach dropping, he passed it to Beckett who sighed….

"Carlson," Castle hissed.


	15. Chapter 15

                                                              

 

Saturday Afternoon

A hotdog vendor in Central Park; that was a pretty easy clue. Unlike the Washington Square clue, this one didn't have a time, no extra clock drawn in a random spot of the drawing, so there was no time clue for the team. The challenge was finding the vendor in a park that was not only 843 acres but was chock full of vendors of all sorts.

Castle and Beckett arrived at the 59th and Lex entrance as it seemed the logical place to start. The boys were on the other side of the park and between the four of them, they hoped to find the vendor.

Even so, Beckett and Castle both had flashbacks of the same memory involving Rome. The previous spring, not long after Castle began shadowing Beckett around, an instance came up where Rome was given the opportunity to walk home from school alone.

It nearly turned disastrous when he was swept up into the crowd and forced onto the subway. Not only did he get on the wrong train, but he ended up on 59th and Lex, right outside Central Park because his hearing aids stopped working and he was unable to hear the stops being called.

Thankfully he had spotted a crime scene and he knew there would be police officers who might be able to contact either his dad or Detective Beckett. It ended up being a murder that Beckett and her team were investigating. Through a series of lucky breaks and Lanie's observational skills, Beckett was able to find Rome and bring him to the precinct where Castle picked him up.

Up until Thursday night, it had been one of the scariest and stressful situations Castle had been through with regards to his kids. The possibilities that were running through his head as the cab drove him to the 12th after finding out Rome was there were endless and each one scared Castle. He never wanted to experience that again. And now months later, his worst nightmare, all those scenarios were coming true; he was experiencing it.

"Castle?" Beckett called pulling her partner out of his thoughts. He looked over at her and she winced at the pain and the despair in his eyes. He was losing hope with each clue, with each day that passed. They had passed the forty-eight-hour mark and they both knew the odds. "Come on, you're always offering to buy me a hotdog, how about I take you up on that offer?"

Castle gave her a weak smile and nodded.

An hour into the search and on the other side of the park, the boys were finding more than enough hotdog vendors, just not the one they were looking for. Rome's drawing was specific about this particular vendor and he wasn't exactly 'as they come'.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Espo sighed as the latest vendor shook his head. "Someone's gotta know this guy."

"I didn't want to say it in front of Beckett and especially not in front of Castle but have you thought about what Rome's chances are at this point?" Ryan asked, "We're past forty-eight hours and this guy's toying with us."

"I'm not giving up on this bro," Espo replied, "not on finding Rome and not on nailing the scumbag that's got him."

"I'm not either," Ryan shot back, the tension of the last few days hitting the partners, "but look at us; we're out here doing this M guy bidding, playing scavenger hunt while Castle's son is sitting in a dog crate."

"Hey remember don't forget Rome isn't exactly helpless here, the Washington Square clues? Those were pretty creative, think about all the crazy ass theories Castle has come up with, then look at the drawings his kid has done while he's kidnapped, Rome's definitely a mini version of Castle. We find this hotdog guy and I bet my badge Rome's got some secret clue hidden in the next drawing about where he is. We figure out those and we'll get him home."

Ryan nodded then spotted a vendor they hadn't spoken with just off to the side of the park. He was asleep on the park bench behind his cart.

"Wanna go wake Sleeping Beauty?" Ryan asked grinning

"It'll be my pleasure," Espo replied walking up to the vendor. "Excuse me sir?" he called, when he got no response he raised his voice a little. "Yo Oscar Mayer, wake up!" When that didn't work, Espo rolled his eyes and knocked hard on the cart. The vendor jumped and nearly fell off the bench in surprise.

"What the hell?!" he shouted recovering from his start "you's trying to give me a heart attack?" his thick Brooklyn accent coming through. Ryan and Espo held up their badges and he winced "er…what can I do for you officers?" he asked

"Detectives Ryan and Esposito," Ryan explained "we're looking for this vendor," he held out a copy of Rome's drawing "you know him?"

The vendor rubbed his eyes and inched closer to the drawing, taking it in his hand. His face twisted into a scowl as he shoved the drawing back at Ryan

"Course I know him, that's Phil, always gets the best spot in the park and usually gets the most customers, goody two shoes he is. People don't want a circus they just wanna buy their dog and get on with their lives, but that's what they get when they buy dogs from him a freakin' three-ring circus with balloon animals and a damn bubble machine, who the hell wants to eat a hot dog that tastes like a bubble machine crapped it out."

"Phil got a last name?" Ryan asked

"Spect he does," the vendor replied, "don't know it, don't care to, we ain't buddies, we ain't even colleagues."

"So where's he parked then, this best spot in the park?" Espo asked

"Right here, but he doesn't work weekends," the vendor explained, his voice dripping with sarcasm "has family obligations bunch of grand-brats he's got, always showing off their pictures, like any of us are supposed to care. But yeah he don't do weekends, which is fine with me, only time I get his spot is on the weekends."

Espo and Ryan felt their stomachs drop as they exchanged a look.

"He'll be back Monday morning bright an early as always, cheatin the rest of us out of our paychecks." The vendor shrugged, he let out a wide yawn and scratched his beer belly. "Now if that'll be all, I've got customers to attend to."

Espo and Ryan walked away from the vendor's cart dumbfounded and speechless. How the hell were they supposed to tell Castle that not only had they not found the vendor, but if they wanted to find him, they had to wait until Monday to do so? That was another whole day that Rome would be kidnapped. Knowing that fact, even Espo wasn't as confident as he had been.

M still had all the cards and was also holding the strings.

Castle was understandably upset by the news and Beckett was honestly afraid she was going to have to have a detail follow him around so he didn't wander through Central Park all weekend waiting for Phil the Hotdog vendor.

But, surprisingly he didn't instead he took the original drawing to the break room and began studying it intently. Beckett gave him a few minutes, before joining him in the break room. They had looked the drawing over pretty well but nothing had really stood out the first time around.

"Beckett look at this," he called she walked over to him and sat down as he pushed the paper towards her. "There's no stream near the Central Park zoo entrance right?" he asked, she looked the drawing over and shook her head.

"No, there's not, but look at the scene, the sign says Central Park Zoo, but Espo and Ryan said the vendor's usual spot is on the other side of the park."

Castle looked at her quickly.

"Maybe M had him draw the vendor here to throw us off," he suggested then paused thinking it over "It's a clue, water…running water and the zoo. They're two separate clues!" Castle reached into the folder and pulled out the first drawing from Rome "he's in the Bronx!" he exclaimed

"Bro how do you figure?" Espo asked as him and Ryan walked in, both carrying coffee for themselves and for Beckett and Castle

"Central Park Zoo isn't the clue, the zoo is the clue, somehow Rome must have narrowed down where he is, he's in the Bronx."

"Okay that would certainly explain the Bronx zoo clue, but Castle that doesn't explain river. There isn't a river like that in any part of the park."

Castle's shoulders dropped as Beckett pointed that out, but he stared at the picture, looking closer.

"Wait…call me crazy but is anyone else seeing Nikola Tesla?"

Ryan and Espo exchanged a look

"Who?" they both asked

"He basically figured out how to utilize electricity, he was at war with Edison, everyone remembers Edison, forgets about Tesla, but Rome thinks Tesla is the greatest inventor in history, and he's right." Castle explained but the boys still looked confused

"Edison?"

"Three years ago they had a special event at the park World History Day. I took Alexis and Rome since they both love history."

"Oh I remember that that thing was sweet, I took my nephew, we had a blast, we got to talk to Jackie Robinson and FDR," Ryan replied

"Alexis and Rome loved it. But look at this, look at all the people in this drawing,"

"Castle they look like regular people, joggers, bikers, dog walkers," Espo said shrugging

"Don't look at what they're wearing or doing, look at their faces. Tesla, Beethoven, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt, they're all here these are some of Rome's favorite people in history are in this drawing."

"What does it mean though, what's he trying to tell us?" Beckett asked, "what do they all have in common besides being Rome's heroes?"

"Electricity and water…" Castle mumbled "running water," his eyes lit up "the only important one of the people is Tesla, the rest are just extras so it doesn't look suspicious. Wherever M is holding Rome it has running water and electricity and it's in the Bronx."

"Castle, your kid is scary good." Espo complimented, Castle, gave him a weak smile and sighed

"Scary good or not, he's only ten…I'm just afraid of what will happen when the clues run out. M hasn't noticed Rome's extra clues yet…what'll happen when he does figure it out?"

"Castle we can't think like that," Beckett replied trying to reassure her partner, she looked at the boys and nodded "okay, here's the new plan. Ryan and Espo you guys are off of M's little game here."

All three boys looked at each other in shock.

"Beckett!" Espo exclaimed

"I have my methods, look M wants us following his clues, his wild goose chase. Rome is sending us messages in the clues that will lead us to him faster. Who the hell knows how long M is planning on dragging this thing out, the sooner we figure out where he's keeping Rome, the sooner we can end this damn game. Rome's giving us some help we have to use this help." Beckett stood up and walked out into the bullpen right over to the whiteboard. "What do we know so far about where Rome thinks he is?" she asked holding out a marker.

"Originally it was either the Bronx or Queens," Ryan suggested

"And now Rome is somehow sure he's in the Bronx. Okay good."

"It's an old factory of some sort." Castle added, Beckett wrote down both clues "and it has running water and is utilizing electricity."

"See look, at this," Beckett exclaimed "we're on our way here. So boys, Castle and I will keep up with M's game, you guys focus on figuring out Rome's clues."

"On it boss,"

"Ryan did we have any luck with tracing the Skype call?" Beckett asked and Castle looked up at her, hopefully. He hadn't realized the team was trying to trace the calls, he remembered M had said it wasn't possible and not to bother, but still, there was a chance.

"Negative, we can't get a lock on the IP address for whatever computer he's using and every time we try to trace Rome's cell it comes up empty too. Whatever he's using to interfere with the trap and trace is high-quality stuff."

"What about Carlson?" Castle asked, "any luck on him?"

"There's no record of any Jordan Carlson in his twenties. I double-checked, but there is one DMV photo that is a pretty damn close match." Espo explained, but he paused and his team looked at him expectantly

"But?" Beckett added

"If this guy is Jordan Carlson then we're talking major age difference here. Jordan Carlson is supposed to be a college junior right? So he'd be in his early twenties, twenty one maybe twenty two."

"So?" Ryan asked

"So the DMV files for Jordan Carlson say he's thirty-two."

"He's thirty-two…so he's not some impressionable kid." Castle growled, "what the hell is he doing working for M…"

"Whatever the reason Castle, he's not innocent, we'll take them both down I promise."

Xxx

Jordan decided he'd give his uncle a few more days to play his 'game' with Richard Castle; after that, he had to say something to the cops. He was not going to face a murder charge. The kidnapping one was bad enough and he was still trying to figure out how the hell he was going to get out of that, but he would not be an accessory to murder. He thought about the developer that had offered $200,000 for the decrepit factory, and that had been two months before Sebastian's plan went into effect. He wondered if the guy was still interested.

His uncle was off out again and as always, Carlson was ordered to stay away from Rome. He had given the kid a day to recuperate after his seizures, but had now placed him back in the room, chained to the floor, drawing yet another clue; this time around it was from the theater district.

Jordan remembered when Sebastian ordered him to go to a small community theater and take photographs of one of the actors. At first, Jordan didn't get why, but he quickly realized that the actress he was taking pictures of was Ms. Rodgers, Rome's grandmother.

Jordan sat in the office and watched the video screens. He knew the signs for an oncoming seizure and he was waiting for one to happen. Rome seemed okay so far, working on his drawing at a slow pace, but moving along.

The whole thing had been just an annoyance for Jordan, but Rome's seizure had actually played into Jordan's concern; he didn't want to see the kid get hurt and the guilt was starting to escalate.

In the room, Rome gently pushed the drawing away and reached for the glass of water M had left him. Jordan leaned closer to the screen watching carefully as Rome slowly took a sip. He put it down quickly and Jordan watched as the boy's body went stiff.

Quickly Jordan ran out of the office, down the hallway, and threw open the door just as Rome hit the floor hard, his entire body seizing out of control.

Jordan knelt down next to Rome, putting him on his side, and trying to keep the boy's jerking motion from hurting himself too severely.

There was nothing Jordan could do about the table and chair, Rome was still secured to the floor and without the key, he would stay there. Jordan just did his best to block Rome from the furniture. He also tried to keep Rome's leg from jerking the cuffs around his ankles too hard.

The motions were so violent, Jordan was seriously afraid that Rome was going break his ankles.

The seizure lasted less than a minute and Jordan let out a sigh of relief when Rome's body finally relaxed. Carefully Jordan checked Rome's mouth for the damage; his tongue was okay, but the inside of his cheeks were even more shredded than before and despite Jordan's best effort, he knew Rome's body was going to be covered in bruises soon.

Thankfully the kid hadn't made a mess, so it wouldn't look like he had simply thrown a tantrum as Sebastian kept insisting. He refused to admit that Rome was sick, that something was seriously wrong with him. Jordan couldn't figure it out either, but he knew something was not right and he needed a doctor as soon as possible.

Knowing his uncle would be back soon, Jordan lifted Rome back onto the chair, that way it wouldn't look as suspicious as it would if Sebastian found him on the floor. Rome whimpered as Jordan picked him up.

"Daddy," he said and slowly opened his eyes. He was clearly confused and Jordan remembered all the times he had come out of a seizure and how confused and scared he'd been. But Rome's confusion wasn't over where he was, he was staring at Jordan and Jordan could have kicked himself. "M…Mr. Carlson?" Jordan kept his mouth shut as he headed towards the door, ignoring the kid. He heard the clinking as Rome slid off the chair. Rome momentarily forgot he was chained to the floor as he shuffled as far as he could, stumbling a little when he reached the end of the chain. "Mr. Carlson, wait…why are you here? Are you here to help me? Please, Mr. Carlson I just want to go home, I want to go home to my dad, please, I don't feel good, I just want my dad. Why are you ignoring me, please Mr. Carlson."

Jordan felt his conscience gnawing away at him as he slammed the door shut, locking it. He leaned against the wall and could still hear Rome's pleading from inside, which soon gave way to quiet sobbing.

He heard his uncle's footsteps coming down the hall and he dashed through the doorway that led into the makeshift kitchen.

Sebastian eyed him suspiciously as he poked his head inside, clearly believing his nephew was up to something.

"Jordan?" he asked

"I was getting a bottle of water old man," Jordan hissed "I'm going into the city for a run." He nodded at the closed door, "been keeping an eye on the brat, looks like he finished his drawing."

"Excellent. Things are progressing so nicely. The team should be at the park at this moment where Mr. Aricosta is waiting. I do hope that Detective Heat provides an in-depth and aggressive integration on our little hotdog vendor."

"You do realize that she's not really Detective Heat right? That Detective Heat is a fictional character and that you're playing with real people's lives here? That's a real kid you've got chained up in that room, who is really sick."

"I am not stupid Jordan, despite what you may think nor am I crazy."

"So what's this whole thing with forcing Castle to revive a dead character huh?"

"Mr. Storm is not dead, that last book, Storm Fall, it never happened."

"Right…How long are you going to keep this up, Sebastian? Do you really think that kid is going to last another week? We've only had him for a few days and look at him, he's had two seizures."

"Tantrums,"

"Seizures you idiot and the kid is not epileptic which means he's sick enough that he's having the seizures. Something is wrong with him and it's going to kill him."

Sebastian waved his hand, deliberately ignoring that statement.

"Wait here while I retrieve the drawing; you have a job to do."

Jordan groaned as Sebastian disappeared into the room, he could hear Rome's sniffling go mute as the boy snapped into best behavior mode. Jordan knew the threat that Sebastian held over Rome's head, he had threatened to snatch Rome's sister and bring her to the factory as well, the threat was apparently working.

Sebastian returned moments later, slamming the door shut behind him. He reached into his jacket and pulled out another envelope, slipping the drawing inside carefully.

"Now where am I going?" Jordan grumbled

"Grand Central," Sebastian replied handing Jordan a key, he also picked up a large zip-lock bag and handed that as well to Jordan. Jordan looked at the contents and gagged a little. He recognized the vest as part of the uniform for Marlowe Prep and it was covered in blood.

"What the hell is this old man?" he asked sharply, Sebastian smiled

"A little excitement for Mr. Castle. Now, make sure you keep that in a backpack or something Jordan, wouldn't want to draw attention to ourselves now would we?" Jordan didn't answer he was holding the bag at arm's length, he hated blood, it made him queasy. "Make sure this gets in locker 214."

"I thought you had the kid draw locker 515?"

"This is all part of the game my naïve nephew. If I simply tell Mr. Castle where to look for the next clue what kind of game is that?" Sebastian asked

"Well, this game is already hitting as sick as it possibly can go so I can't really answer that."

"Roman's birthday is February 14th, I'm assuming his father will be sharp enough to figure out quickly that I still hold the cards and will not let this be an easy task."

"And the bloody vest? A little cruel don't you think?"

"Not at all" Sebastian replied. "Make sure all of this is inside the locker Jordan and try not to be seen. Then you can go for your little run through the park."

Jordan rolled his eyes and headed away from his uncle without another word.

XXX

Monday Morning

Phil Aricosta tapped the table nervously. He wasn't entirely sure WHY the NYPD detectives had arrested him; he was a good guy, at least he thought so. He paid his taxes, did community service, he had never been arrested, never even fined for that matter, he was a hot dog vendor for cryin' out loud. He had to make the detectives understand that whatever they thought he had done, it was all a misunderstanding.

On the other side of the glass, the entire team was watching Mr. Aricosta; studying him. None of this made any sense. The guy was as clean as they came, yet Rome's drawing had led them right to him. He had an envelope with more clues, and, the kicker, he had Rome's Rough Rider hat hanging off his cart.

You ready Becks?" Espo asked, eyeing Castle carefully. Castle was staring angrily at Phil through the window.

"Yes," Beckett said "you and me," Castle started to follow her, but she stopped him, putting a hand on his chest gently "not this time Castle"

"That guy knows where my son is. I want to be in there Beckett, not this time isn't a possibility."

"It's also a possibility that he is just an innocent pawn, just like Nick. He might be guilty but until I talk to him I won't know and I can't have you in there breathing down his neck putting the fear of god in him. If you say or do the wrong thing and he does know something he could close up shop and that'll be it. You watch from here or go home."

Castle was seething, but he complied and let Beckett and Espo go in, Ryan and Montgomery stayed with him.

"Mr. Aricosta," Beckett said sitting down across from him "sorry to keep you waiting."

"Am I being charged with something here?" Phil asked, his voice shaking a little.

"Just a couple of questions to start with, you've been advised of your rights of course?"

"Yeah, I was, but I still don't understand what's going on?"

Beckett pulled out Rome's hat, safe and sealed in an evidence bag.

"Where did you happen upon this?"

"Damn sonuva…" he started to say then stopped taking a deep breath "look I can explain where that came from. This guy came up to my stand Friday afternoon, said he was the office manager of some company and was having some of his employees run a scavenger hunt around the city, some kind of bonding exercise crap. He said that Monday morning people from the office would come up to me and ask me how to get to Grand Central I was to give them directions to it. It was all part of the game."

"With only one set of clues?" Espo asked from behind Phil and he jumped a little, having forgotten the other detective was there.

"I asked the same thing, he said it was for two special players who were working together, partners he said, they would come and ask me about the hat. I was to give only them the envelope, only if it was both of them." He paused "now seriously what is all this about?"

"Kidnapping Mr. Aricosta," Beckett explained, she pulled out Rome's school picture and Castle tightened his grip on the window pane as a pain shot through his chest. "This is Rome, he is ten years old, that hat belongs to him. He was kidnapped Thursday night."

"Kidnapping!?" Phil shouted standing up, instantly Espo was there to push him back into his seat "I swear to god I don't know anything about a kidnapping!" His face was pale as he looked at Rome's picture "god this kid is no older than my grandson…" he muttered

"Rome's father is a consultant with this department, which puts him on the same level as a cop's kid so we are fully prepared to charge you as an accessory."

"Do you know what they do on the inside to guys who mess with kids? I tell you bro, you won't like it." Espo reminded Phil

"I swear to god I've never seen this kid! I've never kidnapped anyone, I'm telling the truth, the guy never said nothing about a kid, he just said it was all for the game."

"His name?"

"I don't know his name! I sell hotdogs lady I don't ask for ID!"

"Have you ever seen him before?"

"A few times, look I see hundreds of thousands of people on any given day, I can't remember them all, let alone name them! They blend in after a while!"

"Describe him!" Beckett said forcefully, she wasn't backing down on this one, this guy may be innocent, but he knew something and for Rome's sake she had to go at him hard. "Look, this boy is being held in a dog crate tied up, he's been there for over seventy-two hours, he is ten years old and he's nearly deaf, we just want to get him home to his family safe and sound. You said he's no older than your grandson, well what if this was your grandson, you would be doing everything you could think of to get him back, wouldn't you? Now, what did he look like."

"My age, late fifties, maybe sixty. He's got a mustache, it's white…side from that he's average, height build, everything nothing extraordinary about him…" Phil paused as if he had remembered something

"What?"

"The way he talks, in my profession especially in Central Park you hear it all, all the accents all the boroughs, but this guy he talks like he's a professor."

That caught Beckett's attention

"Professor?" she asked

"Uppity," Phil explained "like he's better than everyone, uptown guy with precision language. I remember the sneer he had whenever he mentioned my profession. It was annoying."

"Would you be able to sit down with a sketch artist?"

"I'll try, I don't know how much help I'll be." Phil paused "look I'm sorry, I didn't know there was a kid involved, the whole thing seemed a bit out there, but this is New York, it's one of those you think you'd hear it all. I'm a grandfather, I've got three grandkids, my oldest he's about this kid's age. I can't imagine what his father is going through, that poor man, that poor family."

On the other side of the glass, Castle felt his chest tighten again as the breath was caught in his throat. Ryan reached over and gave his friend a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"It'll be okay Castle, we'll get him."

"I'm sorry he's got your friend's kid. I swear to god if I thought it was suspicious or I thought there was a kid in trouble I would've called someone."

Beckett nodded

"We appreciate your cooperation. I'll have a sketch artist come sit with you." Phil took a deep breath and cleared his throat "something else?"

"It's just, well seriously don't you guys talk to each other?" he asked and Beckett looked at Espo quickly

"Excuse me?" she said

"I said, don't you cops talk to each other, I told all this to the other detective. The one who threatened to beat me to a pulp if I didn't give him details."

"Another detective talked to you?"

"Yeah, before you folks showed up. He didn't ask me for the clues or anything just wanted information on the guy who gave me the hat. When I told him what I could, then he wanted the hat and I wouldn't give it to him he starts threatening me."

"Did he show you a badge?"

"Never asked to see one, the way he was questioning me and just his body language I just assumed he was a cop or a fed."

"What did he look like?"

"Same age as the other guy give or take, big guy, like work out big, he had intense eyes, like he's seen a lot. I was seriously scared for my life when he walked up to my stand."

"And he didn't give you his name or show you a badge?" Espo asked

Phil shook his head

"Not at all."

"Can you give his description to a sketch artist too?"

Phil nodded.

"I can try, I can definitely tell you his eyes were intense, like something you don't want to look into but you can't help it."

As the sketch artist came in, Espo and Beckett moved out, lowering their voices so Castle wouldn't hear.

"Does that mean we got three involved in this?" Espo asked and Beckett shook her head

"I don't think so, but why else would someone be talking to Phil about the hat."

"Do you think the Feebies did find out and sent someone?"

"No, I don't, whoever this other guy is…I've got a bad feeling about this whole thing."

"Join the club."

Beckett sighed

"Come on, let's grab Castle and Ryan and check out Grand Central. I'm really getting sick of playing this guy's game."

 

                                            


	16. Chapter 16

                                                                          

The entire drive to Grand Central, Castle studied the drawing, looking for clues left by Rome. His son was being extremely creative, not that Castle had any doubts on that. He knew there had to be a clue in the drawing left only for him, he just had to find it. He just had to study it, like the hidden picture books or the Where's Waldo ones Rome used to love so much; he would take his time, look at every detail until he found the hidden object, he would find things that his dad and sister couldn't. Castle knew he had to be just like Rome this time; he had to find the hidden picture.

"Come on Romey, where is it…" Castle muttered to himself. Beckett glanced over at her partner and gave him a sympathetic look as her eyes turned back to the road. They had been looking the drawing over pretty thoroughly and so far Castle hadn't noticed anything.

It showcased two of Beckett's biggest fears; one, perhaps M had figured out what Rome was doing and had stopped him from adding his clues or the second scenario, that there was, in fact, a clue in the drawing that Rome had left for his dad, but his dad was reaching his limit, reaching total exhaustion that he wasn't able to see it, even if it was right in front of him.

The only clue that the team had seen was a drawing in the drawing; a scrap of paper being swept up by a janitor and on it was what looked like graffiti art. Espo seemed to recognize the design and had faxed a copy of Rome's drawing to a friend of his who had been with him at the 54th.

The friend led up the gang task force out of Queens, but he instantly recognized the drawing. He had called Espo right back saying it was a gang tag, a relatively minor and pretty harmless gang called the Black Rats, who operated and stayed in the Bronx. Their main claim to fame was their tags, they left their tag all over properties in the Bronx and Espo's buddy was positive the tag was the Black Rats.

It was the final proof that they needed, at least in Castle's mind, that Rome was being held somewhere in the Bronx.

 

                                                     

However, his optimism was about to be tested as soon as they walked into Grand Central. Phil the Hot Dog vendor had a lot in his basket of goodies from M; aside from Rome's Rough Rider Hat (which Castle was refusing to put down), there was also a padlock key.

The locker that was most visible in the drawing was locker 515, so the team automatically assumed that was the locker they were meant to search for the next set of clues.

Castle knew deep down that it wouldn't be that easy. Still, he was unable to stop his heart from skipping a beat when Ryan unlocked locker 515 and turned to Castle, a disappointed and surprised look on his face.

"Castle there's nothing in here," Ryan said carefully.

"What?!" Castle exclaimed coming up behind Ryan and staring into the empty locker "no there has to be."

"Look for yourself bro, maybe he didn't get here in time, maybe he wasn't expecting us to figure out the clue?" Espo explained trying to reassure his friend who stared at the empty locker like it would magically load up with all the information he needed to find Rome, of course, it didn't.

"Locker 515," Castle muttered "it was one of the clearest things in that picture…damn you…you god damn sonuvbitch, what the hell do you want from me? Where the hell is my son?"

Espo and Ryan exchanged a look, but there wasn't anything they could say that could reassure Castle.

"Nothing?" Beckett asked surprised as she came up after checking with security about that locker and who had rented it. Apparently, it wasn't rented to anyone, security was surprised to find out it had a lock on it to begin with.

"Nada," Espo replied

Castle didn't acknowledge Beckett. They had hit a wall, a dead end. Things had been going smoothly as far as these damn clues were concerned, now he had nothing. He resisted the urge to bang his head against the locker…to slam, it shut in frustration.

A couple heading to catch their train rushed past the locker room, but it was their conversation that caught Castle's attention

"So I know it's a few months off, but how about we go to Paris for Valentines? An entire weekend, just you, me, and the city of love."

"Oh sweetie you mean it?!"

The conversation faded as they walked off and an announcement was made on the overhead about a train arriving.

Castle felt his heart speed up and he knew where to go.

"It's the wrong locker,"

"Castle?" Beckett asked afraid that he had finally snapped.

"He deliberately had Rome draw this locker, but it's not the right locker. It's a challenge remember, he wouldn't want it to be this easy, just giving us the locker, that's too easy."

"So what, the next clue isn't in a locker?" Ryan asked he looked out at the large space that was Grand Central, it was a lot to look through, a lot to investigate, they could be there for weeks.

Castle's face broke into a grin, as he moved down the line of lockers searching for a specific number.

"It's in a locker all right, just not 515," Castle replied, he stopped when he reached the locker he was searching for.

"214?" Beckett asked confused

"Rome's birthday, February Fourteenth," Castle used the key that had been in Phil Aricosta clue from Central Park. The key fit the lock, just like it had for 515.

Taking a deep breath, Castle pulled open the locker and felt the breath caught in his throat. It was packed full of stuff. Including a manila envelope. He felt a renewed sense of hope, one which lasted about thirty seconds.

As something grabbed Castle's attention, a green wool vest at the bottom of the locker, something he recognized instantly, something he knew. He reached forward to grab it, but hesitated when he saw the red stains…

It was Rome's school uniform vest, he loved to wear it even though they weren't required to wear the vest, and could wear their blazers, but Rome hated the blazers, and felt more comfortable in the vest… it was covered in blood.

"No…god no…" Castle felt his chest tighten "please no…Rome, Rome no."

"Castle," Beckett said putting a hand on his shoulders "Castle breathe…breath Rick, stay focused."

Her voice seemed so far away, he could barely hear her, he could barely feel the hand on his shoulders, his entire body was going numb all he could do was stare at the vest that belonged to his son, a vest that was red with blood.

 

                                             

xxx

"Its blood isn't it?" Castle asked Lanie as she spread the child size vest out on the table. Lanie glanced at Beckett carefully, neither of them was happy about Castle being in the morgue this time around, not with his son's vest laying on the table covered in blood.

It was dried out, at least a couple of days old, but the vest was so soaked in it, and Lanie was concerned.

Of course, she definitely wasn't going to say it in front of Castle, but the fact that this did belong to Rome and that turned out to be his blood…her thoughts trailed off not even wanting to think about it. Thankfully she had a reason for calling Beckett down, and though she expected Castle to follow her, she had been hoping he wouldn't, mainly because of how he would react.

"It is blood Castle but-"

Castle rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm

"You need to compare it right? A DNA sample, go for it, please Lanie."

"Castle," Lanie put a hand on his arm "I ran every test I could on this, we don't need to do a DNA comparison. I pulled Rome's hospital records before I called you guys, so I know his blood type. This blood, it's not all Rome's."

Castle clutched at his chest, relief, and curiosity fighting for first place.

"It's…it's not? Thank god…" he paused "wait…not ALL Rome's? Do…do you mean some of it is his? This is so much blood."

"Castle breathe for a second, Lanie what do you mean it's not all Rome's" Beckett added.

"Most of it is chicken blood, but there are traces of human blood on here. I did the test, and some of it is Rome's, but it's not enough to really be concerned. I was able to separate Rome's from the chicken blood and his is minimal on here, most likely a bloody nose or a small cut, my guess is that Rome used whatever he had at his disposal to stop the bleeding and his vest was the only thing available. Whoever left this wanted us to think it was worse than it really is."

Beckett looked over at Castle, expecting him to be relieved, but instead he looked angry, he was actually seething.

"Castle, it's okay, we'll find him."

"He did this on purpose, he wanted me to…me to think that my son was dead. I'm going to kill him…as soon as we find this bastard I'm going to kill him."

Lanie and Beckett exchanged a look. Beckett was about to try and calm Castle down when his cell phone went off…Rome's ring tone that had come to haunt his every waking moment echoed through the morgue.

Beckett held out a hand for the phone, at first Castle hesitated, but he knew he had to let Beckett handle this at least this time around. He put his cell phone in Beckett's hand.

"Yes?" Beckett said into the phone, Lanie moved to the other side of the table and put a hand on Castle's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Ah Detective Heat," the robotic voice "I was not expecting you to pick up the phone, where may I ask is Mr. Castle?"

"He's here, but after your sick little gift in the locker, we thought it be best if I spoke to you this time around, for your sake of course."

"Ah my little gift, so you were able to figure out that the locker in the picture was not the same locker for the clue?"

"Yes, we did."

"Very clever of you. I had hoped that particular puzzle would be somewhat tricky. And how did Mr. Castle react to the vest Detective? Was he angry? Devastated? Of course, he was so much blood. That poor little boy, that poor little chicken. I'm sure Mr. Castle was close to breaking, well at least until Dr. Parry was kind enough to identify the blood. I knew bringing her into this little adventure was the right move. Makes it so much more interesting, oh I wish I could have seen Mr. Castle's face."

"We'll see how your face looks after we arrest your ass." Beckett hissed

"Now, now Detective Heat, no need to get so burned up." M chuckled at his pun "This game is going so well; all the parts are in place, the players are for filling their given roles. Quite extraordinary. And Roman has been such a good sport, though I am a bit worried the excitement has been a bit much for him."

Beckett looked at Lanie, both praying that Castle couldn't hear what M was saying.

"Enjoy your freedom while you can, because soon you'll be spending the rest of your life in a small crate just like you've put Rome in only instead of fearing the dark, you'll have to spend each and every night wondering if your cellmate is coming for you in the night, wondering if your food is free of glass, wondering if you'll make it out of the prison yard alive. Because you see M, guys who mess with kids in any form, never ever fare well on the inside. The inmates, they have a way of knowing, no one tells them, but somehow they find out. Most of them have kids themselves and the thought of someone hurting a child when that child could be their own…well, it usually pushes them over. We will find you and find Rome, he'll go home to his family and they will put this whole thing behind them meanwhile you'll spend the rest of your life thinking to yourself…was it all worth it?"

There was a long pause,

"I am prepared for that Detective," M replied, but Beckett could hear a slight tremor in his voice she had hit a nerve, even if it was only a bit. "I have already a prearranged precaution which you and your team will be invited partake in shortly." M paused "and Detective Heat, all of this is worth it just to know Mr. Castle jumps in fear every time the phone rings, his heart skips a beat every time a new clue is discovered." M paused again "every time an item belonging to Roman surfaces Mr. Castle clutches it tightly, holding it as if he is holding onto his son. Serving as a reminder to Mr. Castle that for the moment Roman is alive, but at the same time life is so tender, so frail."

"Listen to me jack ass, when we find Rome and we will find him, you better hope that he is fine because if he is hurt in any way I will make you bleed."

"I do not doubt that Detective Heat and I will keep that in mind." Beckett was about to answer when she heard something in the background, it was faint but grew louder as if it was going by. Sirens, fire, ambulance, police and a lot of them. M didn't seem to notice as he continued speaking "and we will certainly see who will be bleeding when this is all over." And with that, the phone clicked as he hung up.

Castle who had been holding his breath let out a frustrated moan and Beckett sighed as Lanie rubbed Castle's shoulders

"He's insane," Castle muttered

"Insane," Beckett started, thinking things over "and stupid,"

Lanie and Castle exchanged a look, confused

"Sweetie I don't understand," Lanie started as Beckett smiled, the first authentic smile she'd had since Alexis showed up at her doorstep.

"Sirens, in the background wherever he is, wherever he's holding Rome there's a massive emergency going on not far." Beckett handed Castle back his phone and hit a button on her own phone "Espo, I need you to call your contacts over in the Bronx and Queens, ask them if there was a fire reported within the last ten minutes and if there was ask where roughly their trucks were at exactly 4 PM."

On the other end, Espo looked at his phone confused

"Sure Becks, but why?"

"The kidnapper just called Castle, I heard sirens in the background, we find out where those trucks were going we can narrow down where Rome is being held."

"On it!"

Beckett hung up and looked at Castle. He had renewed hope in his eyes,

"It's something Rick, it's a start." She said, he smiled at her, weak, but hopeful and hugged her tight. "We'll get him home."

 

                                                              


	17. Chapter 17

Xxx

Rome's head was spinning, he felt like he was going to be sick. At one point he actually came close, but his stomach was so empty nothing came up. His foot was still hurting, but it wasn't just where the cut was because for some reason Rome now had strange cuts going around his ankles.

The strangest of all was the cuts inside his mouth; his bottom lip was swollen and the inside of his cheeks was chewed up. Rome could feel the shredded innards of his mouth. He wasn't sure what had happened to cause them.

The only thing he remembered was finishing the drawing of Grand Central and of the hot dog vendor in Central Park. He remembered feeling sick, dizzy. After that, it was all black.

No…no wait more had happened since then, it was blurry, but Rome knew there was more, large chunks of his memory were slowly coming back to him. M had let him see his dad, he let him Skype with his dad and…and Detective Beckett! They were working hard on the case, together they promised they would get him and bring him home.

The days, hours, whatever they had been they were all blurring together but Rome definitely remember that he also remembered M dragging him out of the crate again, he let him use the bathroom, then forced him back into the room with the shackles, telling him he had to draw the other three pictures he had neglected to finish before his tantrum. His tantrum? Rome hadn't thrown a tantrum, what was M talking about a tantrum…Rome hadn't thrown a real tantrum since he was probably about two or three and he didn't even remember it.

Rome's stomach dropped. The cuts on his ankles and inside his mouth, what if…what if that had been. Rome's stomach lurched again and he tried to keep from dry heaving as his body wanted to throw up, but still couldn't.

As he took a couple of deep breaths, there was one big mystery that Rome couldn't figure out, that was literally making his spinning head hurt more…

Mr. Carlson

The TA who had been in Mrs. Frazier's classroom the previous year. He had started just as an observer, wanting to be in a full inclusion classroom. Why was he here, in this factory and why wouldn't he talk to Rome, help him?

Rome hated to believe it, hated to even think it, but Mr. Carlson, a teacher, someone who he was supposed to trust. Now Rome felt defeated, really defeated, he was done; he just wanted it all to end…

Suddenly the room filled with light. Rome blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. M was standing there, tapping his foot, looking at Rome expectantly.

He knelt down, unlocked the cage and gestured for Rome to slide out, but Rome couldn't, he couldn't even move, his stomach hurt too much, his head…he just wanted to sleep some more.

M was not impressed with this and reached into the cage and dragged Rome out by the collar of his shirt.

"Ow, lemme go, ow!" Rome cried out as his sore foot hit the cage door. M roughly pulling from the cage, acting as if he hadn't heard Rome's pained yelps. The collar of his shirt ripped and the buttons from the polo shirt clattered to the floor.

"I really thought we had an understanding Roman. That little tantrum of yours was quite amusing, but that does not mean you have the liberty to not come when I call you."

"I don't feel good, please M, I really feel sick." Rome whimpered "can I go home now, please. I feel really sick."

"I'm sure you do Roman, I, however, do not care. It is well-deserved punishment for your behavior and no you cannot go home yet. We still have some time together"

Rome dropped his head, he was too tired, too sick to argue with M. Still holding onto the collar of Rome's shirt M half dragged half carried Rome down the hall, back into the room. This time there was no water, no food, just the sketch pad, and a pencil.

"I can't…" Rome mumbled "can't draw anymore,"

"You can and you will young man, you will draw another picture and it will be completed in half an hour." M said shoving Rome into the chair and shackling him to the floor, he undid the zip-tie. He reached into his jacket and pulled out another photograph and slapped it down onto the table.

Rome didn't even look up at it, he couldn't. He had no energy, no willpower. M was not pleased with this either and grabbed a fistful of Rome's brown hair pulling his head up.

"Ow!" Rome whimpered weakly "ow, ow I'm sorry,"

"Do you know what this is?" M asked letting go of Rome's hair, but ready to grab it again if Rome didn't look.

Rome rubbed his eyes and looked at the photo. It was Ellis Island, the stairs leading into the main room of the building. He'd been there a few times, with his dad and with his school. He knew the staircase was where all immigrants had to walk up, they would be processed, inspected, and given either a pass into New York or put back on the boat to return to the country they had left.

This photo was a the bottom of the stairs and could have been any staircase in New York, the only reason Rome knew it was Ellis Island was because he recognized the security guard's uniform standing at the top of the stairs.

"It…it's Ellis Island," Rome muttered "staircase,"

"I knew you were a smart boy." M replied, "you have a half hour." And with that M walked out of the room.

Rome took a deep breath, his head was still spinning. He picked up the photo and looked at it carefully, he couldn't do this, he had nothing left in him, any creativity and artistic prowess had evaporated each time Rome had to put pencil to paper while confined in this little room, shackled to the floor. He was done.

M wanted a stupid picture, he wanted another stupid drawing, Rome would do it, but it wouldn't be anything spectacular, it wouldn't even be close to good.

Rome put pencil to paper and started sketching the staircase. His movements were slow, uncoordinated like it was the first time he had ever sketched in his life.

In the half hour he finished it and knew just by looking at the finished product M was not going to be pleased, but he didn't care, it didn't matter anymore, M wasn't going to let him go, he wasn't going to let Rome go home, he'd just keep making Rome draw places all over New York City, it would never end. Just an endless wild goose chase. Rome would never see his dad again, his sister, grandmother, mom…

Slowly he reached into his pocket and felt the bracelet, still safe in his pocket, he could feel the words on it, feel his engraved signature.

He pushed the paper away from him, and put his head down on his arms, he just wanted to sleep, sleep and never wake up.

He felt the vibrations on the floor as M returned. M walked over to the table behind Rome.

"What the hell is that Roman?" M growled, "that is not what I asked for, I ask for Michelangelo and you give me Picasso, this is filth Roman, a kindergarteners scribble."

"Go away," Rome sniffed "leave me alone, I don't care anymore."

"Oh really," M snapped, he put the zip-ties back on, tightening them more than before, then he un-cuffed Rome's ankles "what about your sister, are you forgetting her?"

"You'll never get near her, my dad won't let you, and Detective Beckett won't let you," Rome replied weakly, he didn't know why he had believed M about that in the first place. It didn't matter what kind of state of mind his dad was in, he'd protect Alexis, he'd close ranks around her, Rome being kidnapped would send his dad into overprotective mode. "You've got nothing,"

M seemed to pause at that and Rome looked up at him, the look in his eyes was understanding, the realization that perhaps Rome was correct.

"It makes no difference," M replied "be defiant if you'd like Roman, this drawing right here just proves that you are not the artist I assumed you were. If that is the case then perhaps I will have no further use of you."

"no…" Rome whimpered again as M dragged him down the hallway, his legs gave out halfway there and he had to stumble to keep up with M.

He didn't fight the man as M pushed him back into the crate and slammed it shut, locking it with the combination lock.

He looked down at Rome and smiled manically

"I'm sure you had high hopes that your daddy and his cop friends would swoop in here and rescue you, super-daddy to save the day. Sherlock Holmes saving Dr. Watson; that is what your father calls you is it not, Doc? Dr. Watson?" Rome didn't answer, but his wince was all the answer M needed "I thought so, well I hope you realize that this time there is no rescue for Dr. Watson, Derrick Storm will fail, Nikki Heat will fail. I hope you realize that Roman. All the little clues you have been trying to leave for your father, they have achieved nothing. It has nearly been a week since we snatched you," Rome looked up at M quickly "oh yes you didn't know that did you? Had no idea what day of the week it was, Roman dear boy it is Tuesday, do you realize that you missed all of Labor Day weekend?"

Rome's heart skipped a beat, his stomach dropped

"Tu…Tuesday?!" he stuttered

"Yes. It has been such a wonderful weekend Roman. Most entertaining, I'm sure your father has been enjoying it as well, but our finale is upon us, now if you'll excuse me, I must find a way to alter that poor excuse for art you presented me."

With that M left the room, shutting the light off. Rome let out the breath he had been holding with a loud cry. He hated to believe M, hated to even think that his dad wouldn't come to rescue him, he'd promised.

But…all the clues Rome had been leaving all the breadcrumbs, how could it be Tuesday and his dad still not figured the clues out, still not come to rescue him. Was M right? Was this mystery just too big for his dad and Detective Beckett to solve?

Rome felt his whole body go numb. He banged his head against the side of the cage, he didn't feel it, didn't feel the pain, so he did it again, and again, hoping each time he would feel something, anything…but he didn't he felt nothing but numb.

xxx

Tuesday: 7 AM

He always felt at ease when he ran. Jordan felt like he had always been running; running from the cops who came to tell him that his parents had been killed in a car accident, running from the social worker who came to tell him that he was going to live with an uncle he didn't even know existed, running to hide from that very uncle who never had a kind word to say to him, never any encouragement.

Today he was running from that same uncle who had dragged him into kidnapping a ten-year-old kid to get revenge on the kid's father.

As Jordan ran through the park, he ignored the early morning sprinkle. The past few days had been nothing but rain; unusual wet weather for September in New York City. Labor Day had been beautiful; sunny and warm but now, the day after the holiday, it was back to the dreary rain.

Jordan had gone for his usual run the previous morning after dropping off the next set of clues at Grand Central. He tried to stick with the same running routine; five miles through the park in the morning, five in the evening.

He slowed his jog when he heard footsteps behind him as it was so early in the morning and Jordan wasn't used to sharing his run. He looked around and didn't see anyone but now he was on edge. He picked his pace back up but the footsteps were heavier, quicker, closer.

Suddenly he was tackled hard from behind. His face scraped against the rough pathway and he felt his cheeks start to bleed.

"What the hell!" he shouted, his attacker didn't answer at first. Jordan felt the weight of someone much bigger and stronger than him kneeling on his back, their knee jammed in between his shoulder blades as they forced his arms behind his back "Get off me, what the hell!"

"You must be Jordan Carlson?" a voice whispered in his ear "it is so wonderful to finally meet you."

"Who the hell are you!?" Jordan started to shout

"You'll find out. You and I are going to get to know each other Mr. Carlson,"

Jordan was about to answer when he felt something sharp enter his neck and felt darkness take over.

When he woke up, Jordan couldn't see anything. He had a black hood over his head, making it impossible to see through. He could feel rope biting into his wrist; someone had him tied to a chair. Was his uncle trying to prove a point? Jordan wouldn't put it past that crazy old bastard.

Suddenly the hood was pulled off and Jordan blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sudden bright light.

"Where am I?" he shouted

"What's the matter Jordan? A little uncomfortable?" the voice from the park said.

"As a matter of fact yeah!"

"Good, I'm sure that's how the boy you kidnapped is feeling."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jordan hissed

"Oh I think you do," the voice said "we can do this the easy way or the hard way Jordan. You tell me what I want to know and if what you tell me is correct I let you go. If not, we start over again."

"Tell you what?!"

"Where are you holding Roman Castle?"

"Who?" Jordan asked he regretted his answer immediately as a shock of electricity shot up his leg. "God Damn it!" he screamed "what the hell!?"

"That was on the lowest setting possible Jordan. I will ask again and if the answer is the same, the voltage goes up." The man explained "simple enough. Where is Roman Castle?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Wrong answer," the man replied and Jordan had to literally bit back his scream as a stronger voltage attacked him. "The human body can only take so much electricity pulsing through it Jordan, and for someone who suffered from epilepsy as a child it is especially dangerous." He paused "you are not who I'm after Jordan you're just a pawn in this whole thing, doing your uncle's bidding. He's the one I really want Jordan, but I will do whatever it takes in order to get the information I want. Now, where is Roman Castle?" Jordan bit his lip, trying to keep from answering. "Not answering also counts as a wrong answer," the voice warned.

"I don't know any Roman Castle"

"You were at his school Jordan, you know Rome, you were in his classroom, you talked to him. You kidnapped him on your uncle's orders, where is he?"

"Screw you," Jordan shouted, the man seemed un-phased by this and equally un-phased by the pained screams as more electricity shot through Jordan's body.

"I do believe you're eyes are starting to twitch a little Jordan. Isn't that an indicator that a seizure may be on its way?"

Jordan panted as his heart raced. He knew the guy was right and even though he hated to give in, he knew he couldn't physically take much more.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm asking the questions Jordan and this will be the last time I ask nicely." The man paused "I know you kidnapped Rome and are keeping him somewhere in either the Bronx or Queens, now I want an address and I want it now."

Jordan closed his eyes, maybe if he told the guy what he wanted to know he could get out of this whole mess. The guy clearly didn't care about him, he just wanted Sebastian which worked in Jordan's favor, could he really turn his uncle in like this? No…he couldn't do that just yet, but he also couldn't take any more of the torture. Why not lie, maybe if he could get the guy to go to the wrong factory he'd just let him go and then Jordan could be in the wind, leave the city, leave the state, hell maybe leave the country, put this nightmare as far behind him as possible.

"Fi…fine…he's in the Bronx…" Jordan thought about some of the other property around the factory and remembered one property his father had looked into a few months before he had been killed. Hoping to add to the family's industry, it was on the other side of the borough, but it was as good as any to tell the guy. Jordan knew for a fact that it was sitting abandoned and would keep the guy occupied for a little while. So he gave him the address. The man eyed him suspiciously and nodded.

"Thank you, Jordan, for your cooperation."

"You're welcome, now let me go!" Jordan shouted

"Not yet, when I am sure Rome is safe then I'll come back for you. Till then you can enjoy my hospitality."

Suddenly the hood was put back over Jordan's head and he was plunged back into darkness.

What goes around comes around, what goes around comes around…he remembered that old saying. Karma.

Xxx

"Espo are you sure about this?" Ryan asked as he put the car in park and the two detectives slid out.

"Vinny has never steered me wrong. He heads up the gang task force and he's positive he's seen that tag at a bunch of factories but only here in the Bronx."

Rome's drawing of Grand Central had been bugging Espo. He knew the small drawing being swept up by the janitor in the picture was significant. He'd seen that tag before and had gotten in touch with one of his old buddies from the 54th who had gone over to the Queens gang unit. Vinny had called Espo right back as soon as he received the fax of Rome's drawing.

"Two factories down." Ryan sighed. He was really hoping they'd have good news for Castle; he was losing hope and they could all see it.

Espo was about to answer his partner when he saw a flash of someone walking by a window inside the factory.

"Dude, did you see that?" He asked pulling out his sidearm.

"See what?"

"Someone's in there," Espo whispered.

Ryan nodded and signaled for Espo to go through the main door just up ahead as he walked to the side entrance. If there was someone in there they'd corner them. Espo pushed open the door as Ryan darted to the other door. He knew instantly that this wasn't the right factory, just from the entrance. Rome has hinted in his drawing that the factory was using electricity and running water. Espo could see the wiring; this building hadn't seen electricity for decades… if ever.

Damnit. The detective didn't have time to dwell on that as he spotted the flash of white; the intruder.

"NYPD!" He shouted, "stay where you are or I'll drop you!"

The silver-haired man stopped; his hand on the door handle to go deeper into the factory. Slowly he raised his hands up in surrender at the moment Ryan came around the corner, his gun also drawn.

"Very well officers. You caught me."

"Care to explain what you're doing here?" Ryan asked as he cuffed the older man.

"Exploring detectives. I hope that's not a crime nowadays."

As Ryan turned the man around the partners exchanged a surprised look as they got a good look at his face. Espo reached into his pocket and pulled out a copy of the sketch Douglas had done under the direction of Phil the hot dog vendor.

This wasn't the guy who had given Phil Rome's drawing or hat, but it was the guy who had put the fear of god into Phil asking him about Rome's hat; the guy Phil had sworn was a cop.

"Ryan" Espo hissed holding up the sketch to his partner. Ryan did a double take and sighed.

"Castle is not going to handle this well" he muttered. "Let's get him back to the 12th."


	18. Chapter 18

Beckett watched him for a moment from behind the glass of the two-way mirror; like a predator sizing up her prey, trying to decide the most effective form of attack. The man looked calm, relaxed even. He was leaned back in the chair; his arms loosely folded across his broad chest. The greying hair definitely gave him the silver fox look, and she could tell that he must have been quite the catch in his youth.

When the boys had brought him in, Castle had been adamant that this was the guy. This was the kidnapper. The feral look in her partner's eyes as Esposito had to physically hold him back from jumping the guy the second he stepped out of the elevator and into the bullpen was enough for Beckett to send Castle home. He wasn't to be anywhere near their number one suspect; she couldn't risk him flying off the handle and doing something stupid, costing them this potential break in the case.

"Are you kidding me?!" Castle had hissed at her. "You are sending me home when the guy is right there?! He knows where Rome is, where my son is, I am not leaving Detective."

"That is exactly why I am doing this Castle. You are too close to this and I will not have you attacking the guy even before I can ask him anything!" she had countered just as fiercely. He shrunk back slightly, still angry but resigned.

"Fine."

Forever the petulant nine-year-old. But this time, well this time, it was the petulance of a sick-with-worry father. He knew how good she was at her job, that he could trust her to do this right; doesn't mean he had to like it.

Beckett softened her voice, "I will call you the second I finish. I promise you."

She got a brief nod in return.

"Now go check on Alexis, she must be sick to death of that huge security guard or a shadow," she smirked and bumped his shoulder with hers.

"You should have seen my first choice. I swear he was the Hulk, just without the green skin!" he grinned back, before glancing over at the interrogation room. When he turned back to her, the look of sorrow and anger and hope in his piercing blue eyes almost made Beckett cave and recede her order for him to go home. She knew she was right though, so she pressed her mouth into a tight smile, and turned to the observation room.

There she was now, still eyeing the suspect. She knew Castle had gone from his call of goodbye to the boys, which included trying to make them promise to rough up the guy they had dragged in, before the elevator pinging its arrival and departure.

It was time to nail the son of a bitch and get Rome home.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Beckett walked into the room and the silver fox straightened up a little as she took her place opposite. Deep, hauntingly beautiful, blue eyes met hers across the table. They were almost comforting to gaze into; something familiar and reassuring. Beckett quickly snapped back into the room and narrowed her own eyes at Mr. Smith, ready to begin.

"So, you gave your name as Mr. Smith, are you sticking with that?" Beckett asked sitting across from him.

He nodded.

"I think I will Detective. Thank you." He was polite, not mockingly so, but it was still strange. "So Detective am I correct in assuming you plan on charging me with something?"

"Guilty conscience?"

"No, of course not. I'm just curious as to why your detectives arrested me in the first place, I do not believe I did anything illegal."

"Trespassing among other things."

"Trespassing," Mr. Smith repeated rubbing his stubble a little thoughtfully "well, I'll be happy to pay my fines and be on my way. I do apologize, detective, I did not see any signs to discourage me from looking around."

"Then what were you doing there, if I may ask."

"I'm a real-estate mogul, I am drawn to abandoned property in hopes of flipping them and turning a profit." He explained with a smile "if that's against the law I do apologize, trespassing is a serious crime after all."

"Of course I might be forced to add a few other charges to that, obstruction for one thing, how do you stand on kidnapping Mr. Smith?"

"Kidnapping Detective?" Mr. Smith repeated, he did not appear to be shaken by the charge, but also not that surprised.

Beckett reached into her folder and pulled out a photograph that she tried not to look at herself. Seeing Rome's happy smile broke her heart, knowing that he was at the moment locked in a dog cage, tied up, scared and begging for his father to come to rescue him. The last few times she had been forced to pull out this picture, she did not see the happy ten-year-old who signed faster than he spoke, who came up with questions that rivaled his father's theories. She saw a scared little boy who did not deserve what was happening to him.

But Beckett knew she couldn't focus on that, she had to treat this as she would a case she had no connection with, her whole heart had to be in this to get Rome back safe.

"Do you know this boy?" Beckett slid the photograph to her suspect

Mr. Smith paused for a moment, before taking the photo and looking at it closely, Beckett couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a hint of sadness in the old man's eyes, for a moment the surety and smugness of Mr. Smith faded to what could only be described as concern.

"I can honestly say Detective, I do not know the boy." He paused putting the photograph back on the table "looks like a very smart and resourceful young man."

Beckett felt her body tense for a moment but regained her composure, she was good at reading suspects and she couldn't shake the feeling that Mr. Smith was being sincere.

"His name is Rome; he has been missing for four days now," Beckett explained she reached back into the folder and pulled out one of Rome's drawings, the one of Washington Square, she slid this over to Mr. Smith and she saw his mouth twitch a little bit, as if he was fighting a smile.

"He has been leaving clues under the order of his kidnapper. This was his first one. His father has been studying these drawings and pulling out specific clues that Rome indiscreetly has left for him. Can you tell me what you see in this picture?"

"I see a very talented artist, with an eye for detail." Mr. Smith said carefully studying the drawing "it looks like a typical scene of Washington Square, food vendors, visitors, a nice autumn day."

"You know what I see?" Beckett asked, not waiting for an answer "I see a collection of clues that are going to tell us exactly where Rome is. I see a sign that tells me he's in an old factory and I see a bumper sticker that is only sold at the Bronx Zoo, which tells me he is in an old factory in the Bronx, which is exactly where we picked you up."

"And I'm assuming Detective Beckett that your team searched that factory and did not find any sign of the boy?"

"What is your connection to this case!?"

"I already explained myself, Detective."

Now Beckett was on her feet, she fought every instinct in her being to grab Mr. Smith's collar and give him a good shake

"He is ten years old and does not deserve what he is going through no child does. He is being held in a dog crate, kept in total darkness, bound. Now either you tell me what the hell you were doing at that factory and what you know about Rome's kidnapping or I will charge you with everything I can think of, lock you up, and throw away the key so you rot."

Mr. Smith took a deep breath, rubbing his chin again.

"Detective, I was at that factory for the same reason you were, searching for the boy."

Beckett raised her eyebrow in suspicion

"Were you now?" she asked sarcastically "and why would you care? You said you don't know Rome."

"True, I do not know Rome, however, I have a personal connection to this case, I am invested in the outcome being a positive one, in which Rome gets back to his family as quickly and as safely as possible."

"Personal connection Mr. Smith and yet you said you do not know Rome, I find this all hard to believe."

Mr. Smith sighed and shook his head

"I cannot tell you Detective, believe me, I would if I was completely confident that it would remain between us, but I cannot."

"Why not!?"

"I am more than happy to tell you everything I know about the case, what led me to that factory, the fact that I knew as soon as I saw it, that it was not the right one, and that I may know which factory our friend is holding Rome."

"Do you understand obstruction Mr. Smith, I am more than willing to charge you with that if you do not tell me why you are searching for Rome!?"

Mr. Smith sighed and contemplated that for a moment, he rubbed the whiskers on his chin thoughtfully, before nodding

"I will make a deal with you Detective, I will tell you something in the strictest confidence about my personal connection to this case if you can guarantee that it will never leave this room. Your partners and I do mean all of your partners Mr. Castle is to be included in that as well as your captain, are to be left out of the loop on my identity. You may tell your team what I will tell you where it concerns everything I know about this case, what I know about the man holding Rome, where he is, what your team can expect during the rescue, all I ask is that I be allowed to leave once I have explained myself. Do we have a deal Detective? That is my offer, should you care to ignore it, then I will be exercising my right to remain silent and since trespassing is a relatively minor transgression I'm pretty sure I will be out of here quite soon, obstruction aside."

Beckett thought that over, she hated to agree to something like that and hated, even more, to leave the team out in the dark, especially Castle after she had promised to keep him informed of everything in the case.

On the other hand, they were chasing their tails; there were hundreds of factories in the Bronx alone, most of them were abandoned from the recession, most were still utilizing water and electricity to keep from being condemned. It would take months to search them all and that would be the ones owned by the city, the ones still privately owned she'd have to get warrants to search for them, no probable cause.

Even with all the clues Rome had managed to give them all the help he had provided, finding him was not going to be easy at this rate and Beckett had the thought in the back of the head, how much longer could Rome last?

"Fine," Beckett reluctantly said. She looked back at the two-way mirror and sighed, "fine you have a deal, Mr. Smith, you have my word, no-one aside from me will know your connection to this case."

Mr. Smith nodded.

"Excellent Detective, thank you." He paused and gestured for Beckett to come closer as he lowered his voice, whispering his answer into her ear. Beckett's eyes went wide with shock as she pulled away from Mr. Smith staring at him.

"No way," she breathed.

"Remember Detective, that is to be kept between you and I." Mr. Smith nodded "now, Rome is correct he is being held in an old factory in the Bronx, however, what he may or may not know is that it is a metal factory. As far as the man holding him, that is where the case becomes a little more personal. I would speak to Mr. Castle about that, ask him if the name Sebastian Mastellie rings a bell if it does not have him think it over. He knows Mr. Mastellie, they have history and he is the man who is holding Rome."


	19. Chapter 19

                                                                                        

 

Kate was in shock. She was used to surprisingly pieces of information that leak out during an interrogation but this was something else. This was personal and unbelievable, and mind-blowing.

Castle was no longer famously fatherless.

Well, to Beckett at least.

How can she keep something like that from her partner? How could she possibly explain who Mr. Smith was, how he related to the case, without giving anything away? Castle's dad had been sitting right there. Right in front of her. Those blue eyes had been so comforting because she looked into the same ones every single day. The broad shoulders had also obviously been passed down to his offspring.

She took her time coming out of the interrogation room, and then hot-footed it into the break room for a well-deserved caffeine hit. Like Castle, she had not stopped, not paused to catch her breath in what felt like days. She couldn't, not with Rome still out there. But now that she had the first good solid lead in four days, she could feel the weariness washing over her. It was going to take even more effort to not only keep herself composed for Castle's sake; the emotional distance she had to maintain, the strength she had to bring to the table, but now she also had to lie to him.

"Yo Beckett," Javi called out from the bullpen, "what did the old guy say?"

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and stalked out to meet their inquisitive gazes.

"Sebastian Mastellie. Find him."

The steel in her voice; her trademark detective bad-ass edge had the two boys jumping into action. Grabbing phones, entering searches into a database.

"Is he our kidnapper?" Ryan asked while using his shoulder to hold the phone to an ear, and reaching for a notepad.

"I hope so, I really do," Beckett answered. If he wasn't then they were no closer, they were back to searching through every abandoned warehouse in the Bronx. Beckett's idea of the sirens hadn't panned out as she had hoped; it would take weeks to search all the factories and Rome didn't have enough time for them to be doing that.

"How does that guy know him?"

"It's…complicated, but he reckons Castle knows him" she grimaced at their raised eyebrows. Luckily they knew her well enough to trust her judgment and to not ask questions that weren't vital in that moment.

"Ooookkkaayyy. Well, shouldn't you call Castle?" Esposito hedged.

"I will, I will let's just see what we can find out about Mastellie first before we get his hopes up."

Dodged that bullet for now. Kate knew that she would have to talk to him. If Smith was under the impression that Castle may know the kidnapper then that would be paramount to solving this case and finding his son. She just wanted some time to get her story straight, to figure out how to throw Castle off the scent of Smith. He always wanted the story. He would push and prod and probe until all the pieces fit together with a beginning, middle and end.

"Beckett, there is nothing on this Mastellie guy. His prints aren't in the system, we can't even find a social security number"

"Nothing at all?"

"Narcotics haven't heard of him, neither the gang task force. According to the NYPD system, he doesn't exist."

Well, there went her plan of keeping Castle out of the loop. He may be the only one with information on this guy. She got out her cell phone and saw she had three missed calls from the man himself. Sighing, she pushed the recall button.

"Time to see if that acting class in college did any good" she mumbled to herself as the call connected.

An hour earlier

Jason the security guard Castle had hired stood unwavering like the black knight from Monty Python. His expression of no-nonsense and ferocity faded for a moment as Castle stepped off the elevator.

"Mr. Castle," he acknowledged carefully

"Jason, all quiet?"

"Yes, sir, your mother, and daughter needed to make a run to the corner store about two hours ago. We were there and back in no time, no trouble along the way." Jason reported. He paused "any word?" He asked carefully and Castle shook his head

"Nothing concrete, thanks for asking though."

"I like my job Mr. Castle but believe me, I wish it was under different circumstances I was helping you out sir."

"Me too Jason, me too"

Castle hesitated at the door to the loft, his key hovering midair near the lock. He was exhausted emotionally physically mentally...and yet he had a spur of energy when Espo and Ryan walked in with the old guy in tow.

He felt it in his gut this was him this was the man who was holding his son hostage. Castle had been all set to take the guy out beat him to a pulp make him spill his guts about where he was holding Rome, why he had done this, make him pay for everything he had put Rome through tie him up and throw him into a tiny dog crate like the animal he apparently thought Rome was.

He could be justified easily, he was a father, a father trying to find his son. But Beckett wouldn't allow it, she had sent him home like a child being sent to time out, she said he wasn't objective that he might jeopardize the case... And all that might be true but Beckett had to understand, Rome was his responsibility, not hers, he had let Rome down not her. He had been naive enough to let his son be vulnerable to the point where he was easy to kidnap.

Rome was a smart kid but Castle knew deep down he had never prepared Rome or Alexis for this kind of situation. He had taught them to have fun, to be original and have opinions, he had taught them how to ride a bike, proper Oreo eating etiquette, the rules for laser tag and hide-and-go-seek, all important lessons a dad is expected to teach his children.

But he hasn't taught them what to do if they were kidnapped how to stay safe in that situation how to be smart and use their instincts sure they knew the basics, don't talk to strangers don't go with someone you don't know, stuff kids learn when they are little.

Castle felt his chest tighten. This was his fault his son was scared and hurt. He had let Rome be kidnapped. He was a famous author, his life was public, his kids were public despite his attempts to shield them from it. Castle knew he should have been more cautious with Rome and Alexis, been more vigilant…and now he was paying for that mistake.

Exhaustion was taking hold and Castle wasn't thinking straight. He knew deep down that putting blame on himself was not going to get Rome back in his arms any faster going with what if wasn't going to help either. He hated to even consider it, but maybe if he just shut his eyes for a few seconds, he'd be able to think more clearly.

Castle looked at his phone for the umpteenth time hoping for a call, a text something from Beckett. She had broken the guy, he had told her exactly where Rome was she was on her way there now and he was to meet her at such and such location...

But there was nothing.

He pushed open the door and surveyed the scene Alexis was curled up on the couch reading, even from the distance Castle could see the tear streaks on her cheeks, she had either just stopped crying or had just started.

It took Castle a second to recognize the book she was reading it was a graphic novel more specifically Rome's favorite graphic novel Sherlock Holmes and the hounds of Baskerville he loved the story and was beside himself when he had found it in graphic novel form.

Alexis hasn't realized her dad was home she reached up and brushed away a tear when she heard his footsteps she looked up trying to put on a brave face.

"Dad?" She said softly "dad why are you home so early..." She felt her heart pick up speed "Is there any news?"

Castle shook his head and hugged his daughter tight

"No pumpkin same old same old, Beckett decided I was in serious need of a hug and sent me home to you." Castle paused and looked around the loft "where's gram?" He asked Alexis lowered her head

"She's upstairs in...in Rome's room."

Castle rubbed his chin wincing a little Martha had been trying to stay strong for the family she was all about the positive that they would get Rome home ASAP that she had faith in Beckett, her son and the team to bring her grandson home safe and sound. Always the optimist.

Castle has been wondering when her turn to break would come and it would seem it had finally happened. He took a deep breath ready to comfort his mother in whatever state she might be in.

Castle brushed Alexis' hair back and headed up the stairs to a room he had been trying like hell to avoid. He was afraid that stepping into Rome's room would unleash the flood gates, he had used up all the tears leaving only determination to bring his son home, but that confidence did not apply in Rome's room where his toys lay scattered on the floor, his artwork covering every space of walls, his stuffed animals including Balto waiting anxiously for their human to come home, all reminding him that his son was missing.

Castle pushed the door to Rome's room open slowly and peeked in Martha was at Rome's art desk, where a project he had started the night before he was kidnapped lay waiting. She was absentmindedly stroking the sketch, the beginnings of the Castle's house in the Hampton's, drawn from the beach. Her other hand was pressed against her eyes as she sobbed quietly over the drawing.

"Mother?" Castle said softy he put a hand gently on her back

Martha jumped a bit at his touch then turned quickly realizing who it was

"Oh Richard" she choked a little "darling I didn't hear you come home"

"Are you okay?"

"Just came in to put Rome's...Rome's clothes in here and I saw his new sketch and...I couldn't stop, I just"

Castle reached over and hugged his mother tight

"I know" Castle soothed "believe me I know"

"Richard, he must be so scared he's so little, I keep seeing him in the whole loft, he's everywhere, I walked by your office and I could have sworn I saw his sneakers under your desk, I went in there, positive that he was hiding in there; reading or playing a prank on us, but there was nothing when I went in there. I just want to hold him. What if he never comes home?" Martha sobbed she hated to even think that let alone say it especially in front of Castle but her emotions were getting the better of her

"We can't think like that," Castle reminded her "the best detectives in this city are working on this, Captain Montgomery has directed all other cases to other detectives. We will bring him home." He paused "Rome is as smart as they come he's resourceful mother. Look at what he's been able to do so far he's been able to tell us roughly where he is, how many would be able to that? Let alone a ten-year-old. We have to have hope, we can't give up on finding him because Rome isn't giving up on helping us find him."

Martha nodded, she opened Rome portfolio which contained his most prized sketches. She gently flipped through them until she found the one she wanted, one of the first sketches Rome had ever done the one piece of artwork that made his father and grandmother realized Rome was extremely talented and might have a future in art.

Compared to his work now it wasn't spectacular until you looked at the date and realized Rome had drawn the picture of his father's office when he was five and had done it entirely from memory.

"He was so humble about this, do you remember Richard, drew it from memory and showed it to me while he was visiting, so nonchalant about it. He's always been so humble about his artwork."

Castle nodded

"Someday he'll realize that he's talented."

Martha nodded brushing her hand over the drawing once more before the relaxation hit her that Castle was home early

"Darling why are you home"

"Needed to come home for a bit, get a few hugs."

Martha nodded again

"Understandable" she paused "would you like me to make you something to eat? Alexis and I have been holding off neither of us have been very hungry, Jason followed us to the corner store, I picked up a few things."

Castle nodded

"I could go for a sandwich" Martha nodded. She patted her son's cheek gently and started to leave the room "mother?" Castle called and she turned "thank you, for being here. I don't know what I would do without you, knowing Alexis is with you and safe and that I have you both here, it makes this whole thing easier"

"Peapod bond Richard," Martha replied giving him a weak smile.

Castle nodded remembering when he had heard that term. It had been a week or so before he talked to Beckett about her mother's murder before she has said they were done. There had been another kidnapping a little two year old it had worked out in the end sort of, the little girl had been found, evidently kidnapped by her aunt and orchestrated by her own mother to secure custody from her father.

Prior to that bit of information, Castle's heart broke for the family he couldn't fathom one of his kids being ripped away from him like the Candelas, to hear that ransom call telling him that his child's life depended on his full cooperation.

Now just a few months later he was in that spot, he was experiencing his child being taken from him the very real possibility that he may never see his son again.

"Peapod bound" he repeated softly trying to give his mother a brave smile. Castle was about to follow her out when he glanced at Rome's unmade bed, something was missing. "Mother," Castle said leaning over the railing and shuffling through Rome's abundance of blankets, even in the summertime Rome loved to sleep buried under mounds of blankets.

"Yes"

"Did you take Balto?"

Martha looked at her son confused

"No of course not, I thought you had him?"

Castle nodded

"I did, but I put him back this morning Alexis asked to sleep with him last night, and I let her."

"Maybe she still has him."

"I could've sworn she gave him to me his morning, I remember putting him on R… Rome's bed."

"Are you sure?"

Castle nodded

"Positive."

Mother and son made their way down the stairs where Alexis was still reading. Her cheeks were dry but Castle figured she had done her crying while he was upstairs.

"Pumpkin you don't still have Balto do you?"

Alexis shook her head confused

"I gave him to you this morning" she replied, "why?"

Castle didn't answer he went to his office and looked around. Two photographs were missing; one was of Rome and Alexis when she was six and he was nearly a year, she was holding him tight and both were sitting with Santa at Macy's the other was of him and Rome together at his first karate belt test he had just received his yellow belt at Castle was lifting him up in the air while Rome lifted his belt high, Alexis had taken the picture. Those two photos were always on his desk and now they were gone.

Castle felt his stomach drop someone had been in the loft not only that but they for whatever reason had taken three things...Castle hated to jump to conclusions this time around but he had a gut feeling it was the man who had Rome, which meant he had been in the loft at some point that day either when Martha and Alexis were home with Jason was standing guard out front or when they had left the loft briefly.

Castle reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone just as Beckett called

Keeping his voice low so Martha and Alexis didn't hear, Castle didn't give Beckett the chance to talk first

"Beckett, he was in the loft, he took two pictures, and...and…and Beckett he took Balto. He took Rome's stuffed animal."

 

                                             


	20. Chapter 20

Beckett walked into the loft without knocking; there was no time for knocking or any pleasantries anymore. If the kidnapper had been in the loft, whether Martha and Alexis were home when it happened or not, was serious business.

How had he gotten in? That was the main question. If Jason the security guard was with Alexis and Martha and they were outside the loft, the Castle's still had an alarm system on their loft, there was still a doorman out front and an unmarked cruiser parked across the street that Castle didn't know about. This also led to the second question, why did he take Balto and two pictures of the kids?

Beckett knew how important that wolf was to Rome and how important it was to his family at the moment; it was something of Rome's that they could hold and had the most meaning to him.

Beckett knew that Alexis had fallen asleep clutching the stuffed wolf the last few nights and she knew how tightly Castle cradled the well-worn creature anytime he thought of Rome. For the kidnapper to take that particular piece from the family was mindboggling and pushed cruel to a further limit.

The foyer to the loft was empty, and that included the security guard. Castle was at his desk typing on his laptop and Beckett suspected it was the chapter for M's other requirement.

Castle had managed to type out three chapters of this 'story'. None were very long and they were certainly not Richard Castle's usual standards but they did exactly what M wanted; they told the story of a mystery writer's son being kidnapped and Detective Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm working together to find the boy.

The first chapter had secured Beckett and Castle a chance to see Rome via Skype, for Castle to talk to his son and promise him that they would get him home. Unfortunately, it was the first and only video he had been allowed.

Beckett could only imagine the pain Castle must have been feeling while writing those chapters. It was bad enough that his son was in the hands of a maniac, but that same maniac was forcing him to write about it.

M was taking things that father and son both loved, both were passionate about and using it to torture them both. This case may be all about hurting Castle, but M was clearly neglecting the fact that he was hurting him by hurting his son, he was destroying Rome slowly and Beckett knew if they didn't find Rome soon, his chances of coming home were going to get slimmer.

What made it worse was when they did get Rome back, what kind of shape would he be in, would he still be the same Castle Mini Me that she had grown close too, would Rome be Rome or would this ordeal literally destroy his childhood? Beckett hated to think like that, but it kept pushing in her mind, like an annoying tune that will just not go away.

"Hey," Beckett said from the doorway. Castle looked up. The bags under his eyes were getting more prominent; he hadn't slept well in days, he was running on fumes. Beckett was so terrified that he was going to crash and crash hard.

"Hey," he replied

"Where are Alexis and Martha?"

"Sent them to a hotel, I don't care if they weren't home when that bastard got in here, they're safer where they are now. I'm not taking any chances with them anymore."

"Look, Castle, I'm sorry for sending you home, please understand why I had to do it. You're close enough to this case as it is, we all are, believe me, if I thought the guy had Rome I was ready to do whatever it took to get him to spill."

Castle nodded

"I don't blame you, Kate, I don't. And I have to thank you, coming home, seeing Alexis and my mother it helped, well up until…" his voice trailed off, writing was his first instinct his first stress reliever, so he had been typing since he called Beckett working on a long chapter for M. "Did he give you anything?" Castle asked hopeful "does he know where Rome is?"

Beckett shook her head,

"No Rick he isn't our kidnapper. But he did give us a lead"

"A lead?" Castle asked, "how could he give a lead, is he connected to the case?"

"Rick I need you to focus and think hard. Does the name Sebastian Mastellie sound even the least bit familiar?"

Castle thought it over wracking his brain but no he had never heard that name, not once in his life.

"No," he replied and Beckett felt her shoulders sink. Mr. Smith had seemed so sure that Mastellie was Rome's kidnapper and that his son would know the name.

She tried to keep the disappointment off of her face; Castle had been faced with enough bad news lately. This could potentially destroy him, it had been a lead and now it was gone.

Suddenly he looked up at her

"What?" She asked

"Sebastian Martin," he said softly

"Who?"

"About a year before I brought the manuscript of In a Hail of Bullets to Black Pawn I brought it to a publishing company called Kilroy and McNeil Publishing. I met with one of their senior consultants and he read over my manuscript. I felt like we had a connection like after months of rejections this would be it. He seemed to enjoy the story and made some pretty reassuring comments about it."

"What happened?" Beckett asked sitting across from Castle, he shrugged

"I never knew. I received a rejection letter from Mr. Martin a week later, a pretty harsh one at that. So harsh in fact I went to the office to confront him or at least find out why. I was actually really shocked about the rudeness of the whole thing. The other rejections I had received were tame compared to his. He refused to meet with me, having his sectary tell me that I was not the writer he thought I was and that I would be better off finding a new career because I would never make it in this industry."

Castle paused and reached into his desk, shuffling through papers

"Don't tell me you saved it," Beckett said in surprise

"Course I did. I've saved all the rejection letters I even have the first framed it reminds me what I had to go through to get this far. So I never take it for granted." He leaned over and smiled victoriously "ah here it is!" He handed the letter to Beckett. She looked at him cautiously before she started to read it

"'Dear Mr. Rodgers,'" Beckett couldn't help the smile, it was too tempting to pass up. She looked up at Castle cautiously. She was surprised and pleased to see a smile on his face, the first one in days.

"Go ahead, laugh it up while you can," he replied "welcome to my neighborhood," he added half humorously

"Right… 'Dear Mr. Rodgers, I would like to inform you that Kilroy and McNeil will not be publishing your manuscript. You do not have the talent that is required to make it in the literary world. I recommend finding a different occupation because I do not envision you in any future finding someone foolish enough to publish the filth that you presented to us. The fact that you call your manuscript a novel is quite laughable. Your characters are as ordinary and forgettable as they come and your plot is virtually non-existent. I would if I were you save yourself any future disappointment and step away from this career. I am sorry you have wasted your time and I am even sorrier that you wasted mine. Also if I may add as a personal suggestion I would retire the name Richard Castle, it is quite childish and shows no semblance of imagination, your given name seems to suit your personality much better because it as just as ordinary and mundane as your characters and your awful plot."'

Beckett looked at Castle in shock and he shrugged

"Told you it was harsh,"

"I can't believe you took this." Beckett said unable to keep the surprise out of her voice "I mean you really didn't try to go over this guy's head?"

"At the time I was still young and naïve. I figured that was the final decision from that particular publisher, then that was that. I wasn't ready to accept defeat though, in fact, if anything Mr. Martin's letter made me just want to keep fighting. I knew I wanted to be a writer I knew it was what I was meant to be. One man's opinion wasn't enough to deter me."

"What ended up happening with Mr. Martin?"

"I don't know honestly. I heard rumors from Gina that he was let go a few years ago. His company was really disappointed in a lot of his decisions, I wasn't the first author he rejected who went on to be successful and I certainly wasn't the last."

"Martin, you said his last name was Martin?"

"Yeah, Sebastian Martin, honestly he's the only Sebastian M I know. He was an arrogant bastard though, I do remember that. Nothing in his office was out of place…" Castle stopped short he began breathing heavy as if he was having a horrible flashback.

"Rick, what's the matter?"

"It's been so long, I mean we're talking seventeen, twenty years give or take…but there was something about his voice, it was uppity, he always talked down to everyone even if he was giving a rare compliment like he was better than everyone." Castle ran his hand through his hair "Beckett, I can't be sure, at least not 100%, but his voice just flashed in my mind, Sebastian Martin and M's voice…Kate, they're the same. Sebastian Martin IS M! He's the one, he kidnapped Rome!"

Before Beckett could answer him, both jumped out of their skin when a loud crash echoed from the kitchen.

They ran out of Castle's office to see Martha standing in the kitchen, a pitcher of lemonade laying in shattered pieces on the hardwood floor, with the liquid snaking its way around Martha's feet.

Martha herself was deathly pale and she was crying. Instantly Castle was at her side holding her tight

"Mother, Mother what are you doing here?" Castle breathed trying to calm her down, he helped her step over the glass shards and guided her over to the couch, helping her sit. Beckett went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water and a box of tissues.

"I…I left my cellphone so I came back to get it and was thirsty. I knew there was some lemonade in the fridge and…" her voice trailed off as she looked at Castle "I couldn't help overhearing, Richard I am…I am so sorry, sweetheart this is all my fault. I never thought…oh, Roman…I'm so sorry," Martha began sobbing again. It broke Beckett's heart and stunned Castle into silence.

"Martha, what's wrong?" Beckett asked rubbing her shoulders gently. It took a few minutes, but eventually, between Beckett and Castle they calmed Martha down.

Martha had her head in her hands, trying to gain some composure. She knew that her family and friends thought of her as melodramatic; hurricane Martha, but rarely did she ever breakdown in front of anyone. She took a deep, shuddering breath in before dropping her hands and lifting her chin. Beckett and Castle were staring, quite dumbfounded at this display of emotion.

"Mother" Castle's gentle voice prompted her to give him a tight smile. She reached out and took grasped one of his hands in both of hers, soothing both him and herself.

"Oh darling, I'm so sorry if any of this is because of me"

"What are you talking about? How could you have anything to do with this?" Castle could feel a cold pit settle in his stomach, on top of the one that had taken up permanent residence since Rome was kidnapped. He shot a quick glance at Beckett and she also had that look on her face; composed, calm, but underneath he could tell that her cogs were turning, trying to predict the outcome of his mother's story.

Martha dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. "Remember that production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I was a part of in Shakespeare in the Park?"

Castle gave her an embarrassed look, "Erm not really"

"Yes you do, it was the early eighties" she prompted. At his still confused look, she waved a dismissive hand and carried on. "Anyway, I met this incredible man at the after party, oh Richard his eye, you could swim in those ice blues…" Martha got a far off look on her face; she was reliving that night over again.

Beckett grinned at the slightly disgusted look on Castle's face. He knew that her mother was no saint; he had caught her doing the walk of shame (or the stride of pride in her case) on many occasions, but they rarely acknowledged what she had been up to. There are some things that parents and children just do not discuss.

Martha landed back in the present with a bump. "He turned out not to be the man I thought he was."

"What do you mean Martha?" Beckett wasn't like the Castle's, she didn't want a drawn out story. If something was wrong, she wanted to know. Now.

Martha turned her full attention to the detective. It was felt easier to address her than her son at this point.

"I'm an actor darling and a darn good one too. So that means I also know when other people are putting up a front. Oh, this man was good, very good. He had me hanging on to his every word for most of the night but eventually, I realized I was being deceived."

By this point, Beckett had guessed who this man was, but from the look on Castle's face, he had no idea. Huh, he was usually quicker on the uptake than this, but when a case is personal it clouds everything. Things that were once clear, were now muddied and confusing, something she knew all too much about.

"He was pretty…persistent," she said with a raised eyebrow and faint red tinge appeared on her cheeks, tears welling back up in her eyes.

"Oh my god" her son mumbled, "He raped you?!"

"No darling, don't get worked up, I'm stronger than I appear", she gave him a wink to try to diffuse the emotions in the situation, but it didn't do much. "He tried a lot of things to convince me; one of them was blackmail. Turns out he worked in publishing at Kilroy and McNeil"

The blood drained from Castle's face.

"Sebastian Martin?" he whispered.

Martha nodded. "At the party, I had told him about you, about how you were a writer trying to get his first book published. He told me that he would put a recommendation in for you if I did what he wanted. I refused, of course, I'm sorry darling, I know you wanted to get published…"

"No! Don't you dare apologize!" Castle was furious. "That sick bastard!" He rose from the couch to pace. He wanted to hit something. No, he wanted to hit someone, a specific someone.

"Richard," Martha started

"So this is revenge or something? I get published and become a bestselling author without him and his firm, and he wants to get back at me? He rejected me because he couldn't get laid and now he comes after my family?" Theories started spurting from his mouth. Beckett and Martha, still seated, watched him move back and forth across the living room.

"Castle, I need you to calm down. We have a lead now, a solid lead! Speculating will not help right now" Beckett tried to diffuse her partner before he flew off the handle, mindful of the waves of guilt pouring off of the woman sitting next to her.

He stopped mid-pace and turned to her. He saw the hard and unwavering look in her eyes; the 'I'm boss' look. He flicked over to his mother, looking as small and as frail as he had ever seen her.

"Mother" he called and he moved to envelop her in an embrace. "This is not your fault. You did nothing wrong" he tried to console. They stayed in each other's arms for a while. Castle didn't have the time to acknowledge that it was a bit weird; they didn't hug much.

When they pulled back, Martha had regained her composure. "Now Richard, don't worry about me, go chase down that man! Bring my grandson home!" she ordered with her usual flare and wave of her hands.

"Yes ma'am," he said in mock saluted, needing some of the banter back to calm him down.

Beckett made a move to pull out her phone to text Espo when suddenly, Castles phone rang.

It sent chills down everyone's back. Martha took Castle's hand and held it tight as he timidly answered the phone.

"Castle,"

"Ah, Mr. Castle you have finally decided to speak to me yourself instead of letting Detective Heat speak for you?"

"I've been a little preoccupied trying to solve your god damn mystery," Castle growled

"Ah yes, my mystery. And speaking of mystery have you discovered the loft seems empty of certain belongings?"

Castle looked at Beckett quickly both partners thinking the same thing, how the hell did this guy know what was going on in the loft how was he always one step ahead of them...

'Bugs' Castle mouthed to Beckett she nodded and pulled out her cellphone texting Espo about the bugs also asking him to try and track Rome's phone try and get location on it something they haven't been able to do in the past, but even Beckett could hear it in Ms voice he was getting cocky more than before.

Beckett waved her hand to Castle silently asking him to keep M talking.

"What do you want with the stuffed animal?!" Castle asked trying to keep his voice as calm as possible

"Oh, Mr. Castle that is all part of the game. What indeed do I plan on doing with Roman's favorite stuffed toy? The creature he cannot sleep without, the creature he wanted so badly to take to camp but nearly didn't for fear of being ostracized by his new friends. What a wonderful and creative father you are to suggest putting Balto in Roman's pillowcase to hide the shameful creature. It is amazing how attached to toys children are. I was so concerned about Roman's wellbeing that perhaps he was not sleeping well because he was not feeling himself as of late, but I do believe now it is just because he was missing his toy. Though I'd still hate to think he is in any way ill."

"What do you mean ill?! What the hell are you doing to him?!"

"Nothing Mr. Castle. Absolutely nothing. Roman has been quite compliant with my demands in nearly every part of this adventure, he does, however, appear to be very picky when it comes to meals. He simply does not want to eat what I have put in front of him. You have succeeded in spoiling him I see. I firmly believe in the phase spare the rod spoil the child. I do hope this doesn't affect his health too, he's already such a tiny thing."

Castle breathed deep, trying to keep his composure, but M talking about summer camp caught his attention, a moment between father and son that had taken place before camp in the privacy of home, the fact that M knew about it shocked and angered Castle. Not only had M bugged the loft, but he had done it months in advance.

Castle looked at Beckett his face twisted in horror wondering how long M had been spying on the family...how long he had been planning this kidnapping?

Before anyone realized what was happening Martha grabbed for the phone, pulling it out of her son's hands

"Listen here you bastard!" She cried into the phone "enough of the games, you let my grandson go now! Tell us where you are keeping him or I swear-"

"You swear to what Ms. Rodgers? Recite overused dialogue from one of your failed performances on the small stage? That would be quite painful for me. But is not the threat that will make me simply walk into the nearest police station and claim surrender. The continuation of the games is about to begin I do hope you're ready." With that, the phone clicked leaving a deadline.

Martha burst into tears

"Richard I'm so sorry I don't know what came over me...oh god what have I done." She sobbed, unable to contain her emotions any longer.

Quickly Castle hugged her shoulders as Beckett willed her phone to vibrate, praying for a text.

She gestured for Castle and Martha to follow her and wouldn't say a word until they were outside the building on the sidewalk.

"If he really has the place bugged we can't let him know we know." She explained Martha was still sobbing quietly into Castle's shoulders. Beckett's phone began vibrating as she received a text from Ryan.

"Did the trap and trace work?" Castle asked over his mother's head.

Beckett smiled her first real one in a while and nodded

"Before wherever he was calling from interfered with the signal he could call out but we couldn't get a lock on the GPS of Rome's phone." She explained "He must be outside of the area of interference. Ryan says it'll take a few hours to narrow it down but the computer is working on it. We should have an exact location soon." She put a hand on Martha's shaky shoulders "Martha?" She said and Martha looked up slowly "you kept him talking long enough for us to get a lock on the signal. You have nothing to apologize for." She paused "let's get you back to your hotel," Beckett waved at a black unmarked car parked not far from the building.

Castle hadn't even noticed it before.

"Beckett?" he started but she shook head as the car pulled up along the curb and a young detective got out Castle recognized from the precinct got out.

"Detective Holleran will take you to your hotel, Martha. Castle the boys will be here ASAP. When we get back upstairs do not say anything in the loft don't even say anything in the building only speak outside or by writing it down. I wouldn't be surprised if he had your cell phones and the main phone bugged as well so don't text me or anyone on it. Martha, tell Alexis the same thing no texts no calls on your regular phones." Beckett wrote down her cell number as well as Ryan and Esposito's "use the hotel phone to call us if you need us. One of us will be with Castle at all times if you need to get in touch with him."

Martha nodded, she hugged her son and the detective tight as Holleran helped her into the car.

Castle watched as the car drove off and he rubbed his chin the worry weighing on his shoulders. He couldn't believe the loft was bugged...he couldn't believe someone had managed to get into his home and spy on him and his children and what was worse used that to kidnap one of his children.

"How could I be so stupid, so blind?" He muttered and Beckett put a comforting hand on his shoulder

"You know you're neither of those Rick. No one should feel like they've been violated like this especially not in their own home. I don't think there was anything that could've been done to prevent this; he would have gone through with this plan regardless of how much security you have on the loft or how close you kept Rome. You have to let kids be kids Castle, you can't keep them under 24-hour surveillance no matter how much we'd love too. Rome is a smart kid, he's already proven how resourceful he is, and you've taught him well Rick. We will get him back. M doesn't know we're tracing him right now he still thinks he's ahead in the game, but we're finally a few steps ahead, we're closing in on him, we'll bring Rome home."

Castle took a deep breath.

"When Rome was born the doctors wouldn't even let Meredith hold him, he was so little so weak they put him right in an incubator. She was asking for him when I finally made it to the hospital, by the time I got there the doctor and the nurses said it would be okay if I went to see him. Meredith wanted at least one of us to be there, at least one of us to hold him. She was still so sedated and tired she couldn't." Castle smiled at the memory "I walked into the NICU and the nurse brought me over to the incubator, she asked if I wanted to hold him. I was so nervous about it, he was so tiny so frail, I thought I might hurt him. Alexis was small when she was born, but nowhere near as small as Rome, he was only a month early, but so small. They nearly lost him when Meredith went into labor, they ended up having to do a C-section, the cord became wrapped around his neck, he wasn't breathing when he was born. The doctor wasn't even sure if he'd make it."

"He's a fighter Castle," Beckett said gently and he nodded

"Always has been, he's had so many curve balls thrown his way and he's managed to pull through each one."

"And he'll pull through this one, let's go wait for the boys upstairs. That way M doesn't get so suspicious before we take his ass down." Beckett added and Castle smiled a little, it was weak, but there was hope in his eyes that hadn't been there the last few days.


	21. Chapter 21

"Let's just say I'm very disappointed in you Jordan." Mr. Smith clicked his tongue, as he pulled the hood off of Jordan and looked down at him with disproval. "Here I was believing we had an understanding and you go and lie to me."

Jordan looked up at the older man and glared.

"Sorry?" Jordan asked sarcastically "I couldn't hear you, I think I may be going a little deaf." he added. Smith was un-phased by Jordan's comment, a jab at Rome. Instead, he smiled at the younger man.

"Interesting choice of words Jordan," he said.

"Why are you so interested in this kid anyways? What's he to you?" Jordan asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. "You seem pretty insistent on finding the little freak."

"Well Jordan if you must know, your uncle picked the wrong family to kidnap from. You both may think that Rome is simply the grandson and son of actresses and the son of a mystery writer. But he is much more than that my young friend."

"Really? Because that's all I thought he was. You got more on the kid?"

Smith smiled wider. He cracked his knuckles a little and advanced towards Jordan. This time with no taser, no weapon of any kind...just his bare fists. Jordan felt his heart pick up speed, fear washing over him, all sarcasm and snide comments gone.

"Rome just happens to be my grandson and was definitely the wrong kid to mess with. Now Mr. Carlson, Jordan, you have two choices here. The first choice: you willingly give me the correct information about where Rome is being kept and I let you go. Or second: you jerk me around again and I make you sorry for it and I send you to where you deserve to go." He paused. "The choice is yours."

"Go to hell old man." Jordan whimpered, knowing he was definitely going to regret that remark.

Xxx

Nomadic Nick settled into his usual spot and looked around. The park was quiet for a Wednesday morning, not much activity at all. He wasn't surprised; it was going to be a nice peaceful day. The morning, however, turned interesting when he saw a silver-haired man walking into the Square, supporting a much younger man in ripped jogging clothes.

"Now that's something you don't see every day," Nick muttered to himself watching the scene unfold.

The older man deposited the jogger on a park bench and Nick could see even with the distance that the younger guy was totally smashed. But it was the shoes that Nick recognized, he had seen those shoes before, that was Jogger Man; the one who had given him the writer's kid's backpack full of books and a hundred dollar bill! Nick looked around; he didn't have any cash on him and of course, he didn't own cell phone even though the lady cop had given him her card and her fellow cops' cards in case he thought of something else that could bring the kid home.

Nick stopped looking around when he felt someone walk up to him and he slowly looked up at the silver-haired guy standing over him.

"You must be Nomadic Nick," he said.

"Depends on who's asking," Nick replied.

"It seems we have a mutual acquaintance, our jogger friend over there." The man gestured towards the bench and Nick nodded.

"It seems we do."

"If you are able to Nick, I'd appreciate it if you could call one of the detectives you met, alert them to our friend's presence here. I'm sure they will be very interested in knowing he is here."

"Jogger Man took that kid didn't he?" the man nodded "I knew it, they find the kid yet?" Nick asked. He was genuinely curious and concerned about this kid and his father.

"He'll be found soon, thanks to Jogger Man's cooperation. Please make that call Nick, oh and best to leave my involvement out of it. The more time the NYPD wastes chasing me around the longer it will take to find the boy." the man said, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a disposal cell phone as well as another hundred dollar bill.

"Whatever you say, mister," Nick replied nodding.

"You've done a great thing helping out with this case Nick. It is very much appreciated." And with that, the silver-haired man turned and made his way out of the park.

Nick stared at the cellphone in his hand for a second and then looked at Jogger Man, before he pulled out the first card he came too, Detective Esposito, and dialed the number.

Xxx

Esposito and Ryan got to the front door of the loft within fifteen minutes of Beckett's text. It was one thing that this guy had managed to snatch Rome off of the street, it was a whole other ballpark when he had infiltrated Castle's home especially when some of the family were inside.

Ryan gave Castle a grim look as he held the door open for them. Esposito put a finger to his lips; shush. Castle silently nodded at them.

He hoped that this was just a precaution, standard procedure (though thinking that this circumstance could fall under any kind of 'normal' crime heading was laughable). He felt sick to his stomach that this guy could have been listening to everything that had been going on in the loft.

Beckett nodded for Castle to follow her, leaving Ryan and Esposito to do what they had to do.

The two detectives worked quickly and quietly. If there were bugs in the loft then there was no way of telling how many there were or how much noise they could pick up. Better to be safe than sorry so silence was paramount. Ryan started in Castle's bedroom while Esposito ran the bug sweeper over the kitchen and living area.

Unsurprisingly both found a number of listening devices; one under the kitchen counter, another by the piano, a couple placed amongst the books on the bookshelf separating the office to the family room, there was even one in the master bathroom and one in Rome's room, under his desk out of sight.

This guy was thorough. Whatever was said in the loft, regardless of relevance to the case, was heard by this sick bastard and allowed him to be one step ahead of them every time.

After disabling the listening devices and placing markers where they had been located, Espo signaled to Ryan and pointed to the front door. They could have spoken, but the experience had weirded both of them out.

"Man, 8 bugs! This guy didn't want to miss a thing" Ryan breathed as he lent his back against the hall wall.

Esposito ran a hand down his face, "There was no need for all those bugs. I bet he wanted us to find them; to make the Castle's feel violated."

"Well, it worked. I don't even live here and I feel uncomfortable. Hell, we are standing in the hallway whispering to each other even though we disabled them!"

Both stood in silence for a moment, lost in thought over what this means for Rome. If the kidnapper was this intense, this prepared, then finding Rome was not going to be easy. Well, they knew it wasn't going to be easy anyway, but this was a new level. A highly prepared psychopath who had listening devices, access to the loft, access to the school, possibly even an accomplice or two.

"Should I call Beckett and Castle, tell them it's safe to come back?" Ryan asked his partner.

Espo raised an eyebrow, "Is it safe?"

Ryan looked back at the door to the loft and shrugged.

"Who knows?"

Espo was about to answer when his phone went off. He looked down at the number and raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell?"

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked.

"Don't know this number," Espo replied, "it's got a weird ass area code." He paused and answered the phone with a quick hello

'Hello?" the voice on the other end said.

"This is Detective Esposito,"

"Ah good Detective man," Espo blinked, he recognized the voice, but he wasn't sure from where. "This is Nick, you's ain't going to believe this, but I think I captured the jogger man who snatched that writer's kid."

"Nick?" Espo asked "Nomadic Nick? The one from Washington Square?"

"You know another Nomadic Nick!?" Nick exclaimed, "where is he?"

"Nick, focus," Espo replied rolling his eyes

"Right, yeah, so I walk up to my usual spot and bam, who do I see crashed out on a bench, but Mr. Fancy shoes Jogger Man. He's still here like someone had a helluva night last night. I know a hangover when I's spots one and this Jogger Man is riding one nasty ass one."

Xxx

The thirty-two-year-old was trying hard to look relaxed and indifferent in the interrogation room but his eyes gave him away. They were nervously darting about the box, lingering for a second on the mirror that he obviously could not see through.

Beckett and Esposito could though. Arms crossed and frown on their faces as they appraised the suspect.

After being held for who knew how long by the kid's grandfather Jordan was just ready to accept defeat. He was covered in burn marks from that damn taser, his lip was swollen and he was pretty sure he'd lost a tooth from the old guy beating on him, not to mention his face was still scrapped up from being tackled in the park. Life really did suck. He didn't even know the kid had a living grandfather, all the records he'd pulled said that Rome's only listed grandfather kicked the bucket six going on seven years ago.

Beckett turned her body slightly towards Espo but didn't take her eyes off of Carlson.

"This is the masterful sidekick?"

"Apparently. Someone gave Nomadic Nick a disposal cell phone, told him to call me if he spotted the, and I quote, 'Jogger Man'. Nick saw him passed out on a park bench. Remembered his running shoes and called."

Beckett gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment and turned to square up the mirror again. She was confused by this guy. Not Carlson, no, she could see how impressionable and weak he was.

Obviously, M only had to say jump and Carlson would climb the Empire State Building to do it. She was confused by M. Why M would pick this boyish sidekick when she was sure she only had to raise an eyebrow at him before he cried and told her everything?

It was a stupid choice of an accomplice. Or a cocky choice. Beckett hoped for the former; it was easier to catch a stupid criminal than a cocky one. Some criminals could be cocky as they were smart and that is not what she wanted M to be.

"Should I have called Castle?" Espo asked her. The writer had gone to the hotel with his mother and daughter, to come to terms with why this was all happening; that all this was because of an evil, personal vendetta.

"No." she reassured him. Under her breath, she mumbled, "but I should have". She is already keeping so much from him but she has to think of his mental well-being, and also the well-being of her suspects. She couldn't be sure one hundred percent that Castle would keep himself in check, keep himself from grabbing this guy by the throat.

x-x-x-x

Carlson fidgeted in his seat. The detectives had let him stew for the past hour; waiting. He needed to get his story straight but the waiting was messing with his mind.

After seeing Rome lying on the factory floor, a small dried blood trail from the corner of his mouth, he knew that this was not going to end in the picture perfect way that M had promised, or, well, threatened.

It was at that moment that it all had become very clear to Carlson that he should do something about it, but before he had time to think of a plan, a way of alerting the cops without implicating himself, then that stupid grandfather had nabbed him in the park during his morning run.

He had interrogated the hell out of him, like something out of an old war movie, until he got his information. Then, instead of letting him go as he'd promised, the maniac had drugged him up with something and left him on a park bench in Washington Square.

Carlson remembered just coming too, trying to figure out where the hell he was when a strong, buff, Hispanic cop and his skinny partner had tackled him to the ground in the park.

NYPD 1, Carlson 0.

There goes his chance of not getting prison time. God, he wasn't going to survive prison. He may be thirty-two but he looked young enough to get carded every single time in a bar. He had heard plenty of rumours about burly, violent criminals who preyed on the young; wanting to make them their bitch.

Beads of sweat started to pool at his temples and slowly made a trail down the side of his face. He hastily wiped them off, but more kept coming.

Behind the glass, Esposito snorted. "Looks like someone is starting to feel the strain of something"

"Shouldn't take long to find out what," and with that, the two detectives left the observation room.

x-x-x-x

Carlson had been so wrapped up in visions of what would happen to him in Sing Sing that he visibly flinched when the interrogation door opened and the Hispanic cop that had picked him up strode in, an imposing and hot woman not far behind.

The guy came and sat on the table by his side, leaning forward slightly, a smirk on his face. The female cop slammed a file down and took a seat opposite.

"I'm Detective Beckett, and I know that you already had the pleasure of meeting Detective Esposito here," she gestured to the guy.

"Oh yeah, we've met, well his face met my fist and the pavement at the same time." The smirk hadn't left his face as Espo spoke.

"And you, you are Jordan Carlson" Jordan didn't answer, but the twitch in his eyes gave it all away as Beckett nodded her satisfaction. "Right, you've been a pretty tough guy to find Mr. Carlson"

"I try," Jordan replied sighing

"Now, we know how much you've been involved in this whole thing, and it will seriously make it a lot easier on you if you just tell us where the factory is. Let us bring Rome home, bring your puppeteer down and you can make a plea bargain. Jerk us around and you'll go down hard for this, we've already got you on kidnapping. The evidence we have stacked against you. You're the one going down for this, not M. We've got you at Marlowe Prep with this drawing"

Beckett pulled out the first clue they had received from M.

"We've got witnesses who are willing to testify that you gave them items belonging to Roman Castle, including sketches with his signature on them."

Then Beckett pulled out the bloodied school vest, still in plastic, she clunked it onto the table hard. Jordan couldn't help but wince, he knew that sucker was going to come back and bite him in the ass.

"What the hell is that?" he managed to ask

"We've got you on camera putting this vest in a locker at Grand Central. We did a DNA test on the vest Jordan, this blood is Roman Castle's and his father identified the vest as his. So we know you had access to it and left it in that locker for us to find. So with all that evidence there Jordan you look guilty as sin while M gets to get off free and clear."

Jordan felt sick to his stomach, that damn old bastard had set him up, he made sure that Jordan would be the fall guy, how could he be so stupid so blind.

He took a deep breath.

"Look, he's my uncle, it was all him, all Sebastian Martin. He changed his name to Mastellie a few years ago after he got canned from his publishing firm. He orchestrated this I just did what he told me. I'll testify against him, give me immunity and I'll give you Sebastian." Carlson exclaimed caving fast.

"Tell me where Rome is"

"Randall Street in the Bronx, there's an old factory there, it's been in my family for years, that's where that crazy old bastard is keeping the kid." Carlson paused and twitched a little "the kid is sick, seriously sick." He paused again "I'm sorry".

Beckett looked at Espo and nodded, as soon as she was out of the box she was on the phone, calling Castle, telling him she'd pick him up at the hotel, but didn't tell him why. She didn't want to get his hopes up, she couldn't do that to him. But he'd never forgive her if the team went to the factory to rescue Rome and left him out of the loop.

Espo came out behind Beckett while a uniform took Carlson down to a holding cell. Beckett turned to look at her friend, he had a look of frustration on his face.

"What's the matter?" she asked as they headed towards the elevator that Ryan was holding for them.

"Randall Street," Espo muttered

"What about it?"

"It was the next factory on the damn list that Vinny gave me if we hadn't stopped to arrest that Smith guy we would've been on our way to Randall, we could've had Rome back yesterday." He growled angrily.

Beckett put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him

"Javi we had no idea that Mr. Smith was on our side, you guys did your job, he was a person of interest and you guys caught him. Do not beat yourself up about this, we're getting Rome now, he'll be home safe with his dad soon."

Espo nodded, he cracked his knuckles a little, he knew that Castle had first dibs on pounding this M guy, but he definitely wanted to be next in line.


	22. Chapter 22

Rome had already concluded he was going mad; that had to be the only answer. His hearing was actually better than it had ever been. He was hearing every little noise around the factory and though he had given up trying to actually remove his hearing aids, he did not stop the motion. He felt better rocking back and forth, banging his head on the bars of the crate, the sound that it made the clang, clang and the vibration that shook the cage and echoed through his body.

Maybe if he kept going he could knock himself out. He was already so weak so it probably wouldn't take much. His hunger pains were gone, as for his thirst, he tried not to think of it.

M had taken him out only twice since he had requested the five pictures and Rome was only able to draw two of them. He was instructed to draw the other three that he hadn't gotten to but he barely was able to finish the one of Gina's office before he passed out again.

Then M dragged him out a second time insisting he draw another picture but Rome was so tired so weak he could barely hold the pencil let alone draw the stairway entrance to Elis Island. He was so tired; tired of M's instructions, tired mentally and physically he just wanted to sleep.

M was not impressed with the finished product and had returned Rome to the crate not even offering food or water. But he had offered Rome complete destruction of any hope he had. Letting him know that nearly a week had gone by and his dad hadn't been able to find him; that he might not ever go home again.

He did know he wasn't going to last much longer. He wasn't entirely sure if he should believe M about how long he'd been kidnapped, but in all reality, it didn't matter much anymore; he wasn't going to make it without water or food. He felt so tired so sick...His head ached and for some reason, the inside of his mouth was sore, especially his lip and tongue, like he had bitten them by accident at some point, but couldn't remember when or even how.

He had never thought about his own mortality, what ten year old would, but sitting in this crate feeling so weak and defeated that was all Rome could think about. He thought about his dad, his sister, and grandmother all the people in his life.

He thought about how much he would miss them he thought about his dad and how he would react...Rome hoped Alexis could stay strong for their dad to help him move on. Maybe M would let say goodbye to his family, let him Skype them, or even write a letter, anything to tell them he loved him, that he was sorry for putting them through all of this.

If he had been smarter been more cautious M never would've got him. He hoped his dad didn't blame himself or Alexis blame herself the only one to blame was Rome himself he had messed up it was his fault.

So he sat there rocking and banging his head against the cage. It was the only thing that reminded him that for the time being he was alive; the vibrations were the only thing he felt now nothing else on his body everything else had gone numb.

                                                                         

"I would stop that if I were you Rome, you're going to regret that" a voice came, but Rome ignored it. He had been hearing things for a long time now, maybe he was finally hearing voices, the final straw to going crazy. "Are you so defeated you're not even going to acknowledge me? Come on, you're stronger than that."

Slowly Rome looked up, his eyes struggling to stay open was he dreaming? The man kneeling in front of him looked familiar but Rome knew he had never seen this man before...he almost thought it was his dad the eyes his own eyes, the face, they were a match for Richard Castle. But this wasn't his dad; this had to be a dream.

"Dad?" Rome dared ask then shook his head. He felt something wet drip down the side of his face, not his dad, not real just a figment of his onset insanity…

"See told you'd you regret doing that." The man reached forward through the bars, instinctively Rome made a move to jump back, but he was so weak his reactions were slow and the man grabbed his shirt collar holding it tight.

Instead of hurting him, Rome felt a cloth gently wipe against his face as the man cleaned off the blood dripping down and pressed the cloth as gently as he could against the small wound.

Rome stared past the man blankly he wanted to say thank you, but couldn't form the words,

"There," the man said "that's better. I'm not going to hurt you Rome I'm just trying to help you." The man looked into Rome's eyes their similar eye color, blue looking into blue. His face was sympathetic and he brushed Rome's bangs back a little and Rome felt like his dad was doing it, cause that was something his dad would've done. "My god..." The man muttered "that sonuvabitch really has done a number on you huh kiddo"

No response from Rome. He was convinced this was all a dream, maybe this was heaven and not a dream. Maybe he was really dying and this guy was going to take him to heaven. Though he didn't look like any angel Rome had ever read about.

The Castle family wasn't religious at all, sure they celebrated Christmas and Easter but is was more in the holiday sense not the religious. But Rome knew what Angels were supposed to look like and this wasn't it, this guy looked more like Christopher Lloyd when he played in Angels in the Outfield or even Clarence from It's A Wonderful Life. Maybe this guy wasn't an angel, or maybe he just hasn't earned his wings yet.

"Are you going to take me to heaven?" Rome asked softly his voice cracking from his sore throat it took a lot of energy just to say those few words.

The man's face contorted into a pained expression, his heart broke a little but it was soon replaced with pure anger, how could someone do this to a child?

He had seen a lot in his lifetime, but could never understand why people would go after kids. Sure he knew the technical reason, kids are easy to get too, they're easy to manipulate and their families will usually do whatever it takes to get them home safe, people always drop their guard when a child's life is at stake.

Sebastian was no different on that, he was not stupid, but he had made a big mistake by picking Rome to go after.

"Heaven Rome?"

What had Sebastian put Rome through that he would give up all hope like this? He would kill him, make him bleed, make him sorry he had ever messed with his grandson.

"Yes, Heaven…aren't you an angel?" Rome repeated, "aren't Angels supposed to take people to Heaven?"

The man shook his head.

"No Rome I'm not an angel I'm...I'm" he paused. The kid was so out of it, so weak, he wouldn't remember any of this. He probably thought he was dreaming anyways "Rome I'm your grandfather."

"So you are an angel." Rome concluded his eyes closing a bit "my grandfather died so he's in Heaven, you're my grandfather so you hafta be an angel, an Angel like Clarence, you just haven't got your wings yet. In the movie a bell hasta ring, is that true?"

"I'm going to try and get you out of here Rome, back to your dad."

"Dad?" Rome repeated robotically "my dad?"

"Yes your dad he's worried sick over you, everyone is." The man pulled his hand back and examined the combination lock and frowned in frustration. "Rome I don't suppose you know the combination?"

Rome didn't answer he was so tired he just wanted to sleep something about this man who called himself his grandfather, Clarence...was that his name? No that didn't sound right, Clarence was…who was he anyway? Why did he feel so out of it? He couldn't concentrate on anything anymore, nothing made sense.

Whatever, Clarence or grandfather, he was comforting. For some reason Rome felt safe with him nearby, he had fallen asleep in this cage before out of pure exhaustion, but never for more than a few hours it never felt safe enough but he could sleep now, really sleep.

Would Clarence stay long enough for him to go to sleep? Dad and gram would always stay with him until he fell asleep if he asked, would Clarence do it too?

"Rome pal don't fall asleep yet I need your help. Come on, kid." The man reached back into the cage and gently shook Rome's thin shoulders "Rome?" He put a hand on Rome's forehead "oh god you're burnin up, we've got to get you to a doctor." Quickly the man stood up and tried to break the top of the cage but it wouldn't budge the only way to get Rome out was to do the combination or find a pair of bolt cutters somewhere "God damn it!" He hissed shaking the cage.

Rome didn't react to it he had gone back to bumping his head against the bars, he was crying now too quietly but it went through the man like a ghost, pulling at his heart.

Never before had Mr. Smith felt so helpless, then he heard something... he stiffened for a second, his hand resting on his sidearm, a part of him hoping it was Sebastian the other part hoping that it was Richard.

Footsteps two sets not far down the hall.

"This way, its Rome I know it."

Richard...the man thought excellent timing, he stroked Rome's hair

"Your dad is coming Rome, he's here, he's coming to get you. Just like he promised. Hang in there bud. You may not see me, heck you probably won't even remember this, but know I've been watching you and your sister grow up, I am so proud of you guys and your dad too. I don't have much to be proud of in my life, but your dad is one of my proudest accomplishments, I'm so proud of the man he has become and I'm proud of the man you're becoming too and proud of the woman your sister is becoming, you guys make my life worthwhile, just by existing." He finished before bolting out another door.

If Richard was here that meant the detectives had figured everything out, Rome would be rescued and he could do what he did best disappear, into the abyss, but first, he had a certain former publisher to see if that police detective didn't find Mastellie first.

Xxx

 

                                                               

Five minutes earlier

"Castle…Rick, I am asking you as a friend and for Rome's sake to please stay here."

Beckett said as she checked the clip of her sidearm. "Please, I promise I will get Rome back to you safe, but I want you to stay here."

Castle shook his head, pulling on his vest.

"Can't do that Kate, if you know me at all then you know I have to do this. I promised my son that I would get him home and I intend to keep that promise. It's my job to protect him and I didn't. I let my son get kidnapped and used like a pawn. I will not let him down again."

Beckett looked at Esposito and Ryan who shrugged. They knew there was no stopping Castle and certainly not this time, besides if they were in his shoes they would be doing the same thing he was.

"Fine," Beckett conceded, "but no heroics. Espo and I will go to the main room and take our kidnapper down. You stay with Ryan and go get Rome. Just get Rome out of there."

Castle nodded and followed the team into the abandoned factory. His heart was racing as him and Ryan split from the team. This wasn't like anything else he had ever done or could imagine doing in his life. There was no humor, no sense of adventure this time around; this time all that mattered was getting in there, getting Rome and getting him out…safely.

This was one of the most important things Richard Castle had ever done in his life, one of the most important things in his life, was in his hands…his son's life depended on him.

Ryan shone his flashlight down a long corridor then down the other end, a split in the hallway. Both writer and detective stopped breathing; listening carefully for a sound. Ryan was about to mention the quiet when Castle's ears perked up, hearing a familiar sound that apparently escaped Ryan.

"Shh, hear that?" Castle asked shinning his own light down the left corridor, opposite from where they were intending to go.

"Hear wh…" Ryan started to say when he stopped, now he heard it too, a faint crying.

"Rome," Castle hissed and Ryan looked at him quickly.

"Are you sure Castle?" Ryan questioned aiming his flashlight down the opposite corridor, the one they were supposed to go to.

Carlson had been pretty adamant that his uncle would have Rome in the same room he'd been making him draw the pictures; that his uncle would have no idea that the NYPD was closing in and would still be focused on getting the damn drawings done.

Castle shook his head violently, he knew his son, he knew every sound his son had ever made, he knew Rome's laughter and he knew his cries.

"It's Rome, he's down this way."

"Castle we have to be sure,"

"I'm sure." Castle replied and gave a forced smile to his Irish friend "Spidey Senses," he explained and made his way down the corridor, following the cries.

Xxx

In a small room, illuminated by a single work light sat the cage that Castle had been seeing in his waking nightmares since the whole event had started. Rome was sitting inside the cage, quietly sobbing; he was banging his head gently against the side of the cage as if he had given up all hope. He hadn't even noticed his visitors.

Castle could see dried blood on Rome's face that pooled from a small cut near his hairline; he must have been banging his head so long that it cut his head.

Anger swelled up in Castle's chest and for a brief moment he wanted to be with Beckett and show M that he had messed with the wrong father, but fatherly instincts took over and Castle just wanted Rome in his arms.

"God…Roman!" Castle whispered, but no reply came, not that Castle was surprised. Rome hadn't even noticed the beams from the flashlights and Castle's mind began racing, wondering what kind of state his son was in, had his hearing come back, he had his hearing aids in but were they really working or was he still in silence? Maybe that was for the best, if Rome couldn't hear what was going on around him, maybe he wouldn't be as traumatized.

Another through crossed Castle's mind, what if Rome had really given up hope that he would be rescued? He couldn't let Rome down like this.

Castle reached carefully through the bars of the crate and gently put his hand over Rome's mouth, just in case he cried out. Quickly Rome began thrashing about, trying to scream and get away from whoever was holding him.

It took a few seconds of this, before Rome finally snap out of it, he looked up, saw his dad and clearly thought he was seeing things for a second, before realizing this was no hallucination, this was his dad.

"DAD!" He muffled around his father's hand and Castle had to swallow back his own emotions as the relief washed over him.

"Romey shh, Doc I'm here…" he whispered, letting his hand drop from Rome's mouth to his shoulders, he just wanted to hug Rome, wrap his arms around his son and hold him tight.

"Daddy," Rome sobbed.

"I'm here Doc, hold on kiddo, we'll get you out of there, hold on." Castle did his best to soothe his son, but Rome clearly couldn't understand him, he was crying too hard.

Ryan moved to the front of the cage and examined the lock

"Castle it's a combination lock, and it's securing the top of the cage too…I don't think I can break it without bolt-cutters or something to get him out."

"five, twenty-eight, ten…" Rome muttered, "back to five."

"What did he say?" Ryan asked

"Five, twenty-eight, ten, back to five," Rome repeated

"That got to be the combination, try it see if that works!" Castle exclaimed "great job Romey, great job. That's my boy."

Quickly Ryan put in the combination and the lock snapped off.

"Way to go kid!" Ryan complimented

Castle held his son's shoulders as tight as he could through the bars. Ryan nodded, letting Castle know what he was about to do. Carefully he unhooked the latches on the top of the cage, pulled the top off and gently put it down without much noise. Rome tried to jump up, but his legs wouldn't work right from the confinement as he fell back down on the floor, his arms were still secured behind him and that threw his balance off as well.

Castle reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife, he handed it to Ryan who carefully cut the zip-tie from Rome's tiny wrists, freeing the boy. Rome cried out in pain as the pressure on his wrists were released. They started bleeding a little, the blood soaking through the gauze that M had put on them, but Rome ignored that as his dad reached into the cage and lifted him into his arms, despite how weak his arms were, Rome latched onto his father's neck tight sobbing into his shoulder.

Castle rubbed Rome's back and held him just as tight, cradling him close, father and son finally reunited, he had been waiting so long to have his son back in his arms, and now he was and it didn't feel real, Castle felt like he was dreaming and that any moment he was going to wake up and Rome would be gone, again, Castle didn't think he could handle that heartbreak.

Instead, he tried to speak, tried to sooth Rome's tears, but no words came, he was afraid to speak afraid that the lump in his throat would make the tears come again, even if they were tears of relief.

Ryan hated to interrupt the moment, but he coughed and Castle caught on quickly, they had what they came for, it was time to get Rome to safety.

"Come on Castle, let's get him out of here."

Castle and Ryan ran as fast as they could back down the corridor, Castle shielding Rome's head.

"This way," he nodded towards a doorway,

"Right," Ryan replied, "do you want me to carry him?"

Castle shook his head. He wouldn't give Rome to anyone, even a friend he trusted with his life, not to mention despite how obviously weakened Rome was, he had developed a grip of steel even if Castle wanted to hand Rome off, which he wouldn't he would not be able to.

"I've got him, thanks though,"

They rounded a corner and stopped short, detective and writer exchanging a horrified look.

About five feet away from them, sitting on the floor as if it had always been there was Rome's stuffed wolf Balto.

It had been stolen from the loft along with two family pictures, and Castle couldn't and really didn't want to imagine why M would take the stuffed animal. Now Castle understood Sebastian's motives, taunt them some more, take something that Rome loved and held very dear and try to destroy what it meant him. It was a last attack on the family.

"Castle is that..?" Ryan started

"Yeah, it is,"

"That wasn't there before was it?"

Castle shook his head "no, it wasn't,"

Rome felt the vibrations from his dad's chest and looked up, but Castle gently pushed his head down, keeping him from seeing his best friend. Castle would not let M destroy Balto's meaning to Rome, if it meant his son wouldn't see the wolf until they were home then so be it, he would not let Balto be seen here.

No matter what, Castle would not let Rome know that Balto had ever been in the factory, that M had ever touched the stuffed wolf…that he had been in the loft.

M would not win that satisfaction. He had taken so much from Rome already, so much from the family, but he would not take Rome's sense of safety and security at home. Rome had to know that home was always safe, especially after all he'd been through in the last week.

Ryan nodded at Castle and walked over to pick the stuffed animal up. When he returned, they kept going, he pressed the communication button on his two way attached to his wrist

"Beckett, Espo, we have Rome, we're almost clear, I'll radio for the bus." He exclaimed, that declaration coming a little too early as something came out from the dark and nailed Ryan in the head with a sickening thud.


	23. Chapter 23

Castle stumbled as his friend went down, barely managing to hold Rome who cried out, tightening his grip on his father's neck and burying his head deeper in the bulletproof vest.

"Dad!"

"Hang on to me Rome! Ryan, are you okay?" Castle shouted

"Go, I'm okay, keep going get him out of here!"

"No, Mr. Castle stay, please, I've been so looking forward to this moment" A new voice entered the hallway; it made Castle's blood run cold. He tightened his hold on Rome, covering his head with his hand. "Such heroics Detective Raley, offering to sacrifice yourself for your friend and his son. I couldn't have written it better myself, outstanding, absolutely outstanding."

The man started to slowly clap his hands while walking towards them, leisurely emerging from the gloom of the warehouse. Sebastian Mastellie or Sebastian Martin or M, whatever the hell he was calling himself.

"You're welcome," Ryan huffed out sarcastically as he stood up, his head was throbbing from whatever had hit him, but his cop instinct took back over as he pulled out his gun, standing in front of Castle and Rome. "and it's Detective Ryan…"

"No need for that Detective," Mastellie waved a hand towards the gun, "we wouldn't want anyone innocent to be hurt now would we?"

"You will notice that the gun is pointed towards the guilty party," Castle bit back, his hand still cradling the back of Rome's head.

"Castle" Ryan hissed. As much as the detective would personally love to hurt the man in front of them for kidnapping Rome; professionally, using his gun was not something he ever wanted to do.

There was a criminal justice system to deal with them; it wasn't up to him to decide life or death. He quickly glanced over at Castle and by the look on his face, Castle would relish the chance to get his hands on a gun.

"Ah ah ah, innocent until proven guilty Mr. Castle," Sebastian smiled.

Castle took a rather menacing step forward, "You-"

He stopped, suddenly seeming to remember that it wasn't just him and Mastellie in this room. He had his scared little boy in his arms and a cop standing next to him, with more cops on the way.

Mastellie put his hands up in mock surrender.

"No need for heroics Mr. Castle, I can assure you I am planning on letting all three of you walk out of here." Castle didn't step back. Ryan didn't lower his gun. "However, I am a professional, let us not forget and every story needs re-writes" he smirked. "I would love some feedback about the case and the book; you all did wonderful, quite extraordinary."

"Feedback!?" Castle exclaimed, Rome's body tensed as he felt his father's voice change, he was trying to burrow his face so deep in Castle's vest, Castle was a little concerned that Rome couldn't breathe. "You are completely and utterly psychotic!"

"That is a bit harsh don't you think Mr. Castle," Mastellie frowned. "After all, because of me, you have probably the most lucrative bestselling book on your hands."

"You think I care about some book? You forced us to play this sick game of yours; you kidnapped my son, all for some book!"

"So you are not pleased with the story I helped you to write? That's a shame. Roman was such a good sport about the whole thing."

"Dad I want to go home, please can we please just go home?" Rome whimpered in his father's arms.

"We will Rome, we're going right now," Castle murmured into his ear.

"Dad, please, no more M, please."

"He can't hurt you anymore Doc, Detective Ryan and I won't let him anywhere near you, you're safe, you're safe with me,"

Meanwhile, M was still going strong; "Just consider for a moment the work I have allowed you to produce, the incentive that I gave you to write this incredible novel. So much better than that filth you presented to me the first time we met. I must know, however, how is your mother?"

Castle and Ryan exchanged a look, they were dumbfounded, to say the least. This lunatic was still focused on the damn story.

"Daddy, please, I just want to go home," Rome whimpered again as Castle adjusted the little weight Rome had.

"Look I think you have done enough damage, you have the book, you have your damn story. This is over Sebastian, it should have been over years ago. I'm not responsible for you losing your job, neither is my son nor my daughter, nor my mother. You have no one to blame but yourself."

"Is the story over Mr. Castle? Wouldn't you say this is the climax after all? We seem to be missing a vital character."

"Characters?" Castle was in disbelief. "The characters don't exist. The stories I write aren't real. This is reality. Right here. In this warehouse, and when you get to jail."

Mastellie shook his head, "Now who is delusional? I admit that the characters don't exist, it is just a bit of fun pretending," he gestured to Ryan who was still in kill-shot stance. Ryan raised an eyebrow. "But how can you stand there and say these stories aren't real? Rook and Heat?" Mastellie scoffed.

"The fictional partners that I thought up,"

"'Thought up'? Don't you mean 'fantasized'? From what I can tell, you think Detective Beckett is quite the woman"

Castle was close to hurling himself at this idiot. He settled for squeezing his son a little tighter but couldn't help a menacing growl rumble deep in his throat. His head hurt, his body ached, his heart was contracting painfully through relief and adrenaline.

Rome was shaking in his arms, fear coursing through his son's tiny body.

"You can go to hell Sebastian." Castle managed to growl out. Instead of being surprised by that, Sebastian simply chuckled, he reached into his jacket and Ryan held up his gun further, reminding M that he still had his gun on him.

"Fear not Detective Raley, I'm simply reaching into my jacket to show Mr. Castle what he was able to create. What his fantasy created. If I wanted the three of you dead, believe me, you would not be standing there. Don't you see that I let you two waltz in and release Roman? Why, if I truly wanted to, I could have made it so he was somewhere deep in this factory, somewhere you'd never be able to find him, at least not in time. As I mentioned, the story and the main characters, those are all that matter, not the pawn, Mr. Castle that you keep so close to your body."

Rome whimpered again, his face completely buried in Castle's vest. Deciding enough was enough, Castle carefully adjusted Rome, reached to his son and slid his hearing aids out, praying for the first time in Rome's life that his son couldn't hear, that the impending deafness would finally work in their favor and Rome wouldn't hear any more from M. Rome didn't even seem to notice, he simply choked back a cry, that was muffled by the Kevlar.

"Keep your hands in the air Martin."

"It is Mastellie, Detective, like your friend here I moved away from my previous mundane name and adopted a more prestigious title. However, the main difference between our names is unlike Mr. Castle's, mine is not so childish."

Castle's mind flashed to the letter, Mastellie's words regarding the name Richard Castle, he called it childish then too.

"No, it's just insane and makes you sound like a Bond villain," Castle muttered "a crappy one at that."

M went on as if he hadn't heard Castle's muttering or Ryan's instructions to keep his hands up. He pulled out a skinny manuscript and held it up for the pair to see.

"Do you not see what my strong guidance allowed you to create? I must admit Mr. Castle I did not have high hopes for you after the first piece of filth you brought me, but I found myself pulled in shall we say by Derrick Storm, I was as many were rather disappointed that you felt the need to off him, all because you got bored? Is that the rumor?" M clicked his tongue.

"That's none of your business," Castle replied

"No matter, the character of Nikki Heat certainly left an impression on me. Oh to meet her in person. How could you not have seen the two stories colliding, Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm working together? Perhaps your imagination is limited, it just needed the incentive of a common goal, that boy in your arms, your son was such a wonderful starting piece. This story that you have sent me is a true work of art." M paused and tapped the cover, the title he had chosen gave Castle and Ryan the chills

The Heat Draws the Storm.

"He came up with a title!?" Ryan hissed at Castle who shook his head and closed his eyes for a second, this couldn't be happening, this nightmare was like a never-ending hell.

"Ahem, allow me to read one of my favorite parts. 'Heat knew the pain of loss, she knew what it was like to stare death in the face after a loved one had been ripped from her. She would not let little Watson's family face the same pain, she would get their son back to them." M paused and chuckled a little "I did, however, want to make one or two little suggestions. I am a publisher after all Mr. Castle. First off, wouldn't it be more exciting if the villain of the story was someone a little closer to home, perhaps an acquaintance of Derrick Storm or even better than moron Jameson Rook, that would be a twist no one would see coming." Ryan and Castle exchanged a look, but didn't answer M. "Or perhaps not, my other suggestion is much better." M smiled "what if, instead of a happy ending where the kidnapped child is safely returned to his family, Detective Heat and Mr. Storm are just a few moments too late…, just moments too late to save the poor little Watson. A sad ending to a wonderful story, but it makes the audience clamor for more, for more information, more of the story." M looked right at Rome when he said this, smiling.

"You sonuvabitch," Castle shouted

"Now, now Mr. Castle, you should be a bit more respectful to the man who has helped you re-launch your career"

"Re-launch? It wasn't gone, to begin with!" Castle was seething.

"Well, I disagree with you there. Nikki Heat is a bit too complicated and selfish for most of your readers, especially with Rook in the mix. Time to move on from that pairing Mr. Castle, and onto something far more plausible; Storm and Heat."

"That isn't up to you Martin, Mastellie, whatever you call yourself."

This time Sebastian put his hands up in a joke mock surrender. "No need to get aggressive, I know how much you like Detective Beckett. I am only giving you some feedback Mr. Castle. Think of it this way, I have given you a new series of books, especially if you go with my preferred ending. Good sequels only come from an angst-filled cliffhanger." Mastellie paused then carried on almost just to himself. "Hmm, that's true. It needs a cliffhanger, and maybe death isn't the best idea..."

Ryan and Castle glanced at each other. Hearing this crazed kidnapper move away from the idea of killing his victims sparked a wave of hope. Perhaps they will all make it out of here.

Mastellie flicked through the manuscript in his hand, and when he got to the back pages he held it up to show the two men. "Look, I left the back pages blank" he smirked. "At the time of printing this first draft, I hadn't decided how I wanted it to end."

Meanwhile, as M was going on his bad guy rant, Ryan heard a buzzing in his earpiece as Espo began radioing to him, wondering if they had gotten Rome to the bus if they'd had any trouble on the way out. Alerting them to the fact they hadn't found M at all.

Espo's call was getting more and more frantic when he didn't hear from his partner. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible to reach for his radio, Ryan hoped if he could hold the talk button down, Espo and Beckett would hear everything that Castle and Ryan could. But of course, with his gun aimed at M, Ryan couldn't do anything.

Castle, however, noticed what his friend was trying to do and understood immediately. Ryan looked at Castle and gave a nod. M's focus was on the manuscript he wasn't even paying attention to the gun aimed at his head. Shifting Rome just a tiny bit and trying to be as careful as possible, Castle hit the last number on his phone, Beckett's cell. He carefully felt around and made sure the phone was on speaker, before sliding it back into his pocket.

Beckett knew that Castle would only call on that particular line if it was important. She had instructed the entire family to not use their cell phones in case M was tracing them, so there had to be a reason, a good reason why Castle was ignoring that instruction.

Instead of saying hello, she waited and listened. Her eyes went wide as she heard the now all too familiar voice of M on the other end, she could hear Rome whimpering, she could hear Castle's labored breaths.

"Espo," she hissed and waved him over, putting her own phone on speaker

"What the hell?" he muttered

"Looks like M wanted a final stand-off."

"And how do you want it to end?" Castle growled, "look what more do you want Sebastian…we followed your damn clues, we did everything you asked, we won."

Espo and Beckett exchanged a look and began hurrying down the corridor. Beckett wasn't exactly sure where they were, but she had a good guess.

Jordan had mapped out the factory pretty well for them and he explained in great detail one of the three places that his uncle would possibly have Rome held, though he wasn't able to give a definitive spot to where the uncle himself may be, at least not at the time. But that meant Beckett knew where they should be going.

"You did?" M asked, genuinely surprised as the conversation continued "strange that you think you think that,"

"Look M, I'm not going to tell you again, drop the book, hands in the air."

"I am not quite finished Detective, therefore I will do things on my own time,"

"No, I don't think so," Beckett said coming up behind M, her gun pressed in his back, "I think you're more than finished, I think this whole thing is more than finished."

"Ah, Detective Heat I presume," M smiled, "what a surprise twist!"

Beckett looked over at Ryan and Castle and was relieved to see Rome held tightly in his father's arms, safe. "Castle, Ryan, get Rome out of here," she called.

Espo stepped up next to M, took the manuscript from his hands and threw it to the ground, where it landed with a solid thud.

"Be careful Detective! That is a best seller right there, a one of a kind novel of epic proportions. How dare you put your grubby hands on it!" M shouted making a move to attack Espo who ducked the older man's assault and moved him around, forcing his arms behind his back, and cuffing them securely.

Espo also 'accidentally' allowed M to clonk his head on a piece of protruding pipe. Not hard of course, but enough that M would have a bump in that spot. M didn't care, he didn't even seem to notice as he shot a poisonous glare at Castle and Rome,

"This is not over Mr. Castle, not over by a long shot. You'll see, you will see all I helped you to build and you will be begging for me to take the credit." He called to the pair. "I got to your son once, wouldn't be difficult to do it again. He's the perfect tool Mr. Castle, the perfect pawn!"

Castle covered Rome's head with his hand tighter, as he and Ryan moved down the hall. Before they did so, Castle looked at Beckett and mouthed 'thank you'. Beckett nodded and waved him to keep going, to get Rome to safety. Assuring her partner that M could no longer hurt Rome.

"Sebastian Martin, Sebastian Mastellie, M..." Beckett called turning her attention to M as soon as Ryan and Castle disappeared around the corner, towards the exit. "You are under arrest for the kidnapping. You have the right to remain silent," Becket launched into the Miranda Rights, M simply turned to her, murder in his old eyes.

"I understand my rights Detective Heat, now I would kindly ask that you pick up that marvelous novel at your feet, the one that your Neanderthal of a partner threw to the ground."

Beckett looked down at the manuscript, she would like nothing more than kick the small book down the hallway, any way to infuriate M further, but she needed it, it was evidence. So instead she looked back at M and smiled.

"It can stay right there, on the floor where it belongs." She replied, guiding the former publisher through the factory, towards the waiting squad car.

The ambulance was waiting when Castle and Ryan emerged. Rome blinked a little and rubbed at his eyes at the sudden bright daylight, it had been days since he had last seen outside and now the light hurt his eyes. The paramedics helped Castle over and he looked over at Ryan

"He needs to be checked too," Castle explained to the EMT "he got hit with a pipe in there,"

"I'm fine," Ryan argued "the kid, check Rome out first, I'm okay."

"Detective," one of the EMTs said, "there are two of us, my partner can see to the child, we need to look at your head."

Ryan looked at his friend, then reached up to his head, he hadn't even noticed the blood dripping down his face.

"Damn," he muttered

"I've got another bus coming, it's right around the corner" the EMT explained, in the distance, they could hear the sirens.

"I can wait, please check Rome, he has been kidnapped for a week, he's the priority." Ryan insisted, the paramedics nodded and maneuvered Castle and therefore Rome to the waiting ambulance, but not before Ryan slipped Balto to Castle who nodded, tucking the stuffed wolf under his arm.

The other ambulance arrived pretty quickly and though Ryan insisted he was okay, the EMTs still gave him a full work over.

"I really suggest you go to the hospital Detective." The EMT said and Ryan shook his head

"I'm fine I promise, it just knocked the wind out of me. No double vision, no confusion, just some pain."

Espo came over and chuckled at his partner. "You stubborn ass," he said "you okay bro?"

Ryan nodded as the paramedic put a bandage to his head

"Good as new,"

"Beckett took M to the 12th, she wants us to go in the factory with CSU if you're up to it."

"Hell yeah," Ryan said, "did you check on Castle?"

"Yeah," Espo said, "they're getting ready to head out, the EMTs are insisting Rome go to the hospital."

"Good," Ryan replied, he followed Espo over to the other ambulance where the paramedic was trying to examine Rome but was clearly having trouble because Rome wasn't letting go of his father, he was clinging to Castle's arm, hugging onto his father's arm as if he was holding on for dear life, trying to hide his head. He looked up when Castle tapped his shoulders and looked to where his dad was pointing.

"Hey kid," Espo called giving Rome a wave, which he weakly returned, then he looked over at Ryan and using one hand, gave the sign for thank you. There wasn't time for anything else as one of the EMTs shut the back doors and the ambulance drove off.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The medical aspect of this may not be 100% accurate as far as medical parts, research can only do so much good, so please, if something doesn't sound right or make sense, I apologize.

                                                                  

 

The EMT tried to give Rome a quick checkup, but it wasn't easy to do as Rome refused to let go of his dad. Even when Castle returned Rome's hearing aids to him, Rome was still pretty quiet, still refusing to let go of his dad's arm.

As they drove towards the hospital, the paramedic sitting with them was able to give Rome look over, and the more he examined the boy, the more concerned his face became. This was not lost on Castle.

"Mr. Castle, does your son have any allergies?"

"A few environmental and food, no medicine allergies," he answered robotically.

"He's extremely dehydrated Mr. Castle. He's got to see a doctor."

Rome began shaking his head violently. He was clearly trying not to cry and he was signing frantically even though it clearly hurt to do so.

"No, no, no dad, I just…I just want to go home, just take me home, please. No hospital, please dad" he begged.

"Romey, you have to go, it'll be okay. I won't leave you I promise."

"This cut on his foot is concerning me. Rome, can you tell me how that happened?"

Rome was holding his dad's arm tight, he couldn't hear anything and had no idea the EMT had spoken, he was also feeling strange…a little light headed.

He couldn't concentrate on what was going on around him; he didn't even know his dad and the paramedic were speaking to him… until Castle nodded at the paramedic.

"Wh-what?"

Castle knew that tone; something was wrong. Despite his ordeal, Rome should not be this out of it; he had been pretty coherent inside the factory.

"Romey, are you okay?"

"Ye…yeah I'm fine,"

"Rome how did you hurt your foot?"

"I..." Rome thought about it hard "on the cage…I kicked it, something was sharp and cut my foot."

"Did anyone clean it for you?"

"I, er…dodon't think so, maybe I…. It was bleeding and… then it, er…um" he paused as if he couldn't think of the word off hand.

"Stopped?" Castle guessed and Rome nodded

"Yeah, stopped."

"Rome, who wrote Harry Potter?"

"Harry Potter? Um, uh, er," he was really hesitating on that, a question that he should have been able to answer without even thinking, the Harry Potter series was his favorite book series of all time, there wasn't any trivia about the series that Rome couldn't answer, and for him to not be able to answer the simplest question, something was really wrong.

"Uh, something is not right," Castle pointed out and the EMT looked at him, then at the monitor.

"Mr. Castle does your son have epilepsy?"

"No, he's never had a seizure in his life,"

"Rome," the EMT said when he was sure Rome was looking right him "son what's your dad's name?"

Rome's eyes went blank for a moment like he was trying to remember and the answer wasn't coming to him

"Ri…" he managed to say before his eyes rolled up into his head, and his entire body began convulsing violently

"He's having a seizure!" the EMT shouted to his partner who sped the ambulance up "ETA?"

"Two minutes out,"

"Rome!" Castle yelled "Rome no, stay with me," Castle felt his chest tighten again, he had just gotten his son back he was not going to lose him again

"Mr. Castle, let me do my job," the EMT ordered Castle who reluctantly moved away from Rome.

"Come on kid, don't give in, fight…"

Rome's convulsions stopped, but when it did, the monitor the EMT had attached to Rome just in case, began beeping, before going flat line…Castle knew what that meant.

"He's going into cardiac arrest!" the EMT reported to the driver who seemed to step on the gas a little harder, the sirens seemed to be a little louder and more persistent.

"No!" Castle shouted trying to cradle Rome, parental instinct taking over common sense.

"I'm starting CPR!" EMT shouted as he tried to keep Castle at bay and give Rome CPR at the same time

"Can't you shock him or something please!" Castle begged

"Can you do chest compressions?" the EMT asked quickly and Castle nodded, thankful that Alexis had forced him to take the first aid course over the summer.

As the ambulance moved closer to the hospital Castle pressed down gently on Rome's chest, trying desperately to get his heart going. He just got his son back and he would not lose him again, especially not like this.

"Come on Doc, you can do it, fight this, come back to me, come back! Rome, please, please don't leave me Doc, I just got you back."

Xxx

After the ambulance took Rome away and after Beckett headed to the 12th with M while Ryan and Espo followed CSU into the factory. They had a strong case against M, but Beckett wanted no loopholes. All the evidence the boys could find would be used against M.

Beckett wanted the case to be solid and get M the maximum amount of time for what he had put Rome, the Castle family, and the team through.

The first stop for Ryan and Espo was the room Ryan and Castle found Rome in. Espo swore under his breath when he saw the small dog crate, the cut zip-tie and what really made him gag a little, remnants of blood on the bottom of the crate left over from Rome's wounded foot and wrists.

"This jack-hole really had him in a dog crate?" Espo asked and Ryan nodded.

"Yeah, how sick is that?"

As Espo looked closer, he spotted something at the bottom of the cage. He snapped his fingers and gestured for the CSU guy to photograph the crate as he donned gloves. When the CSU guy finished with the pictures, Espo reached in and took the photo out. It was a picture of Rome and Alexis smiling happily at the camera, Alexis was hugging Rome tight and tickling him a bit to get him to laugh.

Again Espo swore under his breath as he handed the picture to Ryan who carefully put it in an evidence bag.

"Didn't Castle say M swiped some things from the loft?" Espo asked and Ryan nodded.

"Yeah Rome's stuffed animal and some photos, a picture of Rome at karate and a Christmas picture. We found the stuffed animal, that freak left it in the hallway for us to find. Probably trying to scare Rome even more, but I don't see the pictures anywhere." The partners exchanged a look.

"Dude, does that mean he's got other pictures of the kids?" Espo asked rhetorically, they exchanged a look and headed out of this room and down the hall following the light.

The floor was covered in trash, needles, and other debris. Both detectives had to sidestep a few times to avoid stepping on any unpleasant items.

As they moved down the hall Ryan's flashlight caught the wall and he elbowed his partner

"Javi look at that," the two detectives stared at the wall, seeing the exact graffiti that Rome had drawn for them in his clue. It was all over the walls; the same tag over and over. "That kid is seriously scary good. I thought big Castle was observant, mini Castle is even more so."

"We must be going the right way; I bet Rome saw this at some point. There's an exit just down the hall, Rome must've tried to escape and saw this and realized he WAS in the Bronx." Espo theorized Ryan was about to reply when he saw a door that was partially ajar.

"Here check this out,"

Espo covered Ryan as he pushed the door open.

It was an office of sorts and pristine compared to the rest of the factory and certainly compared to where M had kept Rome.

The thing that caught their eyes first was the large cardboard cutout of Castle himself before either detective could comment on that, the photographs caught their eyes, hundreds of photos and newspaper and magazine clippings.

Rome was in most of the pictures, circled with a red marker but there was a picture of the entire team as well, everyone from Castle and Beckett, Alexis and Martha, to Ryan and Espo, even Captain Montgomery and Lanie, all going about their business unaware that they were being photographed.

The photos of Rome were clearly a mix of ones taken recently and ones that clearly came from the loft.

There were Rome and Alexis sitting on Santa's lap. He looked to be about one or two and Alexis about five or six. There was the whole family at a book launch; Rome couldn't have been more than six. Then there was picture clearly from Marlowe prep, taken in parts of the school no one but a student, faculty, or parent would have access to and the partners knew these were taken by Carlson.

"Think we can add stalking onto the charges?" Espo said thoughtfully

"Onto Carlson at least," Ryan replied. "He may have been too weak to oppose his uncle but he knew what he was doing. It's no excuse."

There was a knock on the doorframe as one of the CSU guys came in.

"Uh detectives, we found something you might want to see." He said carefully.

They were about to follow him when something caught Esposito's attention. It was on M's desk, he walked over and lifted the folder up, inside was two drawings. Vastly different from the clues Rome had been drawing these were older and clearly done with care and precision.

Both detectives recognized the drawings even though they had never seen them before.

They remembered Castle explaining how two of Rome's sketches had gone missing in April; one of his grandmother acting on stage and the other the cover for a graphic novel for Derrick Storm.

Espo and Ryan had found the missing drawings.

"I want to keep these as evidence" Ryan explained, "but as soon as we've got M down for the count I want to get these back to Rome."

Espo nodded and watched as the CSU guy bagged the drawings.

"Be careful with them," Espo instructed. "They belong to a very talented artist who will be very happy to have them back."

"Will do detective" the CSU guy replied he nodded to the doorway "I can come back and get all of this, you guys really need to see what's down the hall."

As they followed the tech, the partners once again watched where they stepped.

"Javi you realize that Rome must have walked this thing barefoot. He had no shoes on when Castle and I found him. M took his shoes and socks."

"Think the blood in the crate means he stepped on something?" A horrified look passed between the two, immediately Ryan was on the phone calling Mercy hospital.

"This is Detective Ryan of the 12th a kidnapping victim Rome Castle should've been brought to your hospital in the last fifteen minutes by ambulance." Ryan waited for a reply and nodded "yeah that's him I need to speak to his doctor or a nurse handling his care." Ryan sighed and Espo waved his hand waiting for a reply. "They put me on hold."

A few seconds ticked by and still, no one picked back up. Ryan stopped walking as they neared the room the CSU guy wanted them to see.

"Well?" Espo asked impatiently

"Still on ho- yeah this is detective Ryan I was one of the officers that found Rome. We've got Crime Scene in the factory where we found him, this place is littered to the ceiling with broken glass, trash, and needles, he was barefoot when we found him and we found blood where the guy was keeping him." Ryan paused and nodded "he did, okay, you're sure?" he nodded again "okay we just wanted to be sure you guys knew. How is he?" Ryan's eyes went wide and Espo waved his hand for Ryan to explain "okay, thank you, ma'am."

"So?" Espo asked hurriedly

'Rome's foot was cut on the crate, he managed to tell the paramedics that before he had a seizure and stopped breathing."

Espo's eyes went wide

"Damn, is he okay?"

"They got him breathing again, he's in with the doctors right now, the nurse couldn't really tell me much else, but she said they would run some extra tests on him just in case he did step on something in here." Ryan explained taking a deep breath "man I hope Castle is doing okay."

"His son was kidnapped and held for a week by some psycho publisher, I doubt he's okay Kev."

"I just mean, we got Rome back, it's something."

"Sure it's something, but what kind of shape did we bring him back in? I mean look at what this M guy put him through, it's going to be tough for that whole family to put this behind them."

"You don't know the half of it detectives," the CSU guy who had been so insistent that they follow him gestured for them to keep going. He pushed open a door that led into what was probably a kitchen at one point, but all the room had now was a table and a sink.

The door locked from the outside, but it was what was on the floor that really made both detectives' blood run cold. Shackles attached to a ring on the floor that was just the right size for a small ten-year-old.

"He kept him chained up in here?"

"We found traces of charcoal on the table, the kind used by artists." The CSU guy explained

"This is where M made Rome draw the clues," Espo sighed as he looked around the bare room. "That poor kid," just then Espo's phone began to ring, he glanced at his partner and picked up. "Esposito," he said "Beckett, yeah we've got the CSU guys going through this place, you're not going to believe it when we tell you. He did? What's he playing at? Yeah no, I got it, we'll be there soon." Espo hung up the phone and looked at his partner "Becks wants us back, M confessed to everything, said he didn't want a lawyer just laid everything on the table and confessed."

"What's he up too?" Ryan asked and Espo shrugged

"Who the hell knows, in a way, it's probably a good thing, means Rome won't have to testify, just got to hope that whoever the judge is, they give M the max and then some."

Ryan nodded, both partners thinking the same thing, no punishment would be enough for what M had put Rome and the Castle family though.

                                                      


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As with the previous chapter: This may not be 100% accurate as far as medical parts, research can only do so much good. So if anything is wrong or doesnt make sense in the medical aspect, I'm sorry.

                                                     

 

Castle paced back and forth down the long corridor…waiting, that's all he felt he had been doing was waiting. The scene felt so familiar, the last time he had paced in a hospital hallway had been the day Rome was born. Now a decade later, he was in that same spot, waiting for news once again about his son.

It had been nearly two hours since finding Rome and only a brief twenty minutes father and son had been reunited before his son was ripped from him again.

Castle didn't know what had happened in that ambulance, whatever the cause, Rome had suffered a grand mal seizure, which stopped his heart.

Castle had to give his son CPR and watch as the EMT shocked Rome over and over with the paddles. They got him back, but the second they got to the hospital he had another seizure and the staff wheeled Rome down the hall to the ER, leaving Castle alone in the hallway, not allowed to be with his son as he fought for his life…left with Balto still clutched in his hand.

"Richard!" Martha's voice carried down the hall and Castle weakly looked up, as his mother and daughter ran down the hall towards him.

Oh god, he had forgotten to call them…they must have been waiting by the phone for a call about Rome and he had forgotten to call. Beckett must have called them.

"Mother," Castle croaked out as the three embraced "mother Alexis I am so sor-"

"Darling don't apologize, Beckett called us, we came as soon as she did. Where is he? Where's Rome can we go see him?" Castle's chest tightened and the look in his eyes took Martha's breath away "oh god no Richard," she said, tears welling up in her eyes, preparing herself for the worst.

"Dad?!" Alexis asked

"He's in with the…with the doctor," Castle managed to breathe, he was trying to hold on for Martha and Alexis' sake, but it wasn't easy. "He had a seizure on the way here," Castle's voice cracked, willing his body to fight the tears, but they came…they spilled out down his cheeks "they had to resituate him…his heart stopped."

"Oh Rome…" Martha sobbed,

Alexis sat down hard on the bench, heaving her tears. Instantly Castle's father senses kicked in and he was on the bench next to her, holding her close and rocking her.

"Shh, pumpkin, shh, it's okay, it will be okay."

"I…I don't want to lose him, daddy," she managed to sob out and Martha slid next to her, sandwiching her.

"Your brother is a fighter Alexis," Martha said, reminding them both of that fact "he will not accept this."

"Mr. Castle?" a new voice entered the hallway and instantly all three were on their feet. Martha held Alexis close as they faced the doctor in front of them in scrubs.

"Yes?" Castle replied

"Mr. Castle I'm Dr. Pillar,"

"My son…is he?"

"It was rough for a while. Your son had three more seizures before we finally got them under control. He's stable for now, but I expect one maybe two more mild seizures before we're out of the woods. He was extremely dehydrated and had a slight fever which encouraged the seizures, it left him weak and therefore vulnerable, but we've got him on fluids now and he's responding nicely to that. His foot was infected, but we treated the infection and we have him on a high level of antibiotics to fight the infection. My biggest concern is what caused the seizures in the first place."

"Can we see him?" Castle asked, at this point, he didn't care what caused the seizure, he needed to see Rome, see his son and be reassured that his son was alive and was safe.

"Of course, this way," Dr. Pillar gestured for the family to follow "let me just give you a rundown of what you will see. You need to be prepared because it is a little shocking for most. First off, we have Rome hooked to a lot of machines. He has two IVs, for fluids and the antibiotics.

"Because his heart did stop and he was having trouble breathing on his own when we resuscitate him we have him on a ventilator, a plastic tube is pumping air directly into his lungs, in a few hours we will wean him off of that, when we do he'll have trouble speaking, but it will only be temporary. He has electrodes on his temples so we can monitor his brain activity just in case there is another seizure. We also have a few on his chest to monitor his heart activity.

"His wrists were in bad shape, we have them bandaged for now, but there may be scaring left, we won't know how bad the damage was until the healing process begins. It's going to be tough for him to sign for a while. We do have him sedated right now, just in case there are any more seizures, but we left his hearing aids in, so talk to him as if he can hear you because there is a chance he can.

"Hold his hand, touch him, let him know you folks are there. When the sedatives wear off, he's going to be disoriented and frightened, especially with the vent. Most kids try to pull it out because they think they are choking on it, you can't let him do that, once he's awake we will extract it. I highly recommend at least one of you is with him at all times for when he wakes up."

Dr. Pillar led them past a nurse's station towards a curtained area, nurses and doctors alike walking around, checking on patients and reassuring families.

A nurse was checking on Rome, when she saw the family she smiled gently and stepped back.

Alexis bit her lip to keep from crying out when she saw her little brother in the hospital bed. He looked so tiny because the bed was meant for an adult, the beeping of the heart monitor and the noise of the vent was too much for Alexis, she buried her face in Martha's clothes, sobbing.

"Shh, sweetheart, it will be okay, he's safe, we got him back, that is what's most important right now, he's safe." Martha soothed

"I will have an orderly get a few chairs for you folks. As soon we wean him off the vent, we'll move Rome to a private room. It's the protocol to keep vent patients nearby to monitor them."

Castle nodded, that made sense, he reached forward and lifted Rome's small hand gently, the bandage on his wrists and the paleness of Rome's body made Castle choke back a tear as he brushed Rome's bangs back, wishing he could just pick Rome up and hold him.

"Thank you, Dr. Pillar," he managed to say

"Mr. Castle, there are a few things I'd like to discuss with you if you don't mind."

Castle hesitated, he was so close to his son only to be pulled away again. But the doctor looked serious and Castle gave in, he took Balto and slid the well-loved stuffed wolf next to Rome, it would be there when he woke up.

"We'll stay with him darling," Martha said, sitting in one of the chairs next to Rome's bed, she took his hand and held it tight, while Alexis went on the other side held Rome's other hand.

Castle nodded and followed Dr. Pillar out into the hall, from the angle he could still see Rome clearly which helped.

"I know your family has been through a horrific ordeal and you just want to sit with your son, but there are a few things I felt you should know and I thought it best if your daughter stayed behind, with your mother?" Dr. Pillar paused

"yes, my mother." He explained

"Your daughter seemed to have enough trouble coping with this."

"It's been a tough week for all of us," Castle replied

"Do you know exactly what happened to your son during his ordeal? What he was put through?"

Castle raised an eyebrow, confused for a second as his body went numb, all sorts of scenarios raced through his mind.

"My god…he didn't…if he tou-"

Dr. Pillar went pale for a second and quickly waved his hands as he shook his head frantically

"Oh no Mr. Castle, I apologize for my wording. I promise you we did not find any evidence that he touched your son. I only meant we found some oddities with Rome's work up and I was hoping that since you were a part of the case and were on the scene you could shed some light that might answer our questions."

"What kind of oddities?"

"The seizures Mr. Castle, they have been concerning me and it comes down to Rome's blood work."

"His blood work?" Castle repeated

"We found traces in Rome's blood work, we're still running some tests to determine what it was. Rome was dehydrated, he clearly has been without water for several days. I suspect the grand mal in the ambulance was just the most severe. Judging by the abrasions on Rome's tongue and inner cheek, as well as the various bruises on his body, I suspect Rome has had several minor seizures over the last few days, all leading up to the big one that occurred in the ambulance."

"Are you saying he was poisoning my son?"

"We can't be sure, there are no needle marks on Rome, it's possible that the wound on his foot was much more serious than it originally looked. An infection could certainly cause the seizures Rome experienced. Rome was certainly more vulnerable, he was already pretty weak a few days into his ordeal and the limited of water and I'm assuming lack of food just encouraged that." Dr. Pillar paused "I'm going to be straight with you Mr. Castle, had you and your team not found Rome today, when you did, we might not have been able to save your son."

Castle felt like he was about to choke on his own breath.

"No…" he managed to say

"Whether his kidnapper knew it or not is up to the police to decide, but he was slowly killing your son, slowly and very painfully by not treating his wounds and the limited water and virtually no food. Your son is going to have a long recovery. He may need physical therapy for his arms and legs. Being restrained and confined like that even for a few days is detrimental to the muscles and Rome was in that situation for nearly a week. Between that and the limited food means Rome is going to be weak for a while. He may stumble after taking a few steps or need to sit down periodically.

"There is a strong risk right now of torn ligaments and even dislocations if he is not careful. For the next week or so after he is released from here you need to be vigilant. He will try to return to his normal activity and for a while, that will be tough. He needs to take it easy, but that does not mean you need to baby him. It's fine for the first week or so, but if you want him to return to normal you need to let him do things for himself, but be there to help if need be."

"I understand" Castle replied

"Parents often say that, but when they see their child struggling to walk, the first instinct is to jump in and help."

"How long will it take before he's back to his old self?" Castle asked, a little afraid to hear the answer.

"That is up to Rome. He's survived Mr. Castle which shows how strong Rome really is. A few weeks and the physical signs of his ordeal will fade, he may still carry the scars, but that will be it. Emotional wounds may take a little longer to heal. I can almost guarantee he will have night terrors. He may have an aversion to certain lights or even become afraid of the dark. Certain actions and even noises may trigger panic attacks. It's impossible to know what if anything will trigger something. His school should be made aware. I highly recommend he talk to someone about his ordeal. I can give you the names of some wonderful child trauma psychologists, but it can also be someone he's close with, someone who Rome trusts completely, but I wouldn't recommend a family member. But I would recommend it, Mr. Castle, especially if Rome insists he's fine, in my experience that's usually the first sign that they are not fine. It's hard to accept Mr. Castle, but for a while, Rome is not going to be the same kid he was before this whole thing started, he may never go back to being the exact same kid again, we just do not know. He will most likely have a mild form of PTSD for a while, perhaps longer, and the entire family needs to be prepared for that."

Castle nodded

"Thank you, doctor,"

"You're welcome, I'll be back to check on you folks in a little while." Dr. Pillar said patting Castle's arm "Mr. Castle?"

"Yes?"

"Sir, your son is a fighter, one of the toughest strong-willed kids I have ever seen, and he clearly has a strong family support system. I have no doubt that with both of those factors in his favor, he will come out of this, it will just take some time."

"Thank you,"

"I thought you might like to have this," Dr. Pillar reached into his pocket and pulled out Rome's small bracelet. "it was in his pocket, his clothes are in a plastic bag, Mr. Castle. I would consider tossing them, but we found this in his pocket, it looks like he was trying to hide it, trying to keep it safe."

Castle took the bracelet in his hand and ran his thumb over Rome's signature, he had been waiting, terrified that one of the clues left by M would contain Rome's bracelet, he had wondered why it hadn't surfaced…Rome had saved it, he had protected it.

Sighing, Castle walked back over to his family, Martha had taken his spot next to Rome's bed, she was holding his hand tight, and brushing his hair back.

Alexis had his other hand, but she also had her head on his stomach, not putting all the weight on him, but so he knew she was there, it was something she would do when they were little. There were many times when Alexis would use Rome as a pillow, especially when she was six and he was a year old.

Castle took the chair next to Alexis, he rubbed her back and put his other hand on Rome's, the family finally together.

No one would leave Rome's side.

 

                                                            

xxxx

A few hours passed, Alexis was the first to notice Rome was waking up, his breathing became deeper and she could feel him twitching under her head and she sat up slowly, stiff from a long time in that position.

"Dad?" Alexis whispered, Castle had fallen asleep, his first real sleep in a week, comforted by the fact both his kids were with him, both were safe. He had his hand on Rome's but was snoring softly. "Dad, wake up,"

Castle sat up quickly,

"Pumpkin what's wrong?"

"I think Rome's waking up," she said nodding at her brother, Castle rubbed his eyes and woke up instantly. He looked Rome over, Alexis was right, Rome was getting twitchy, which was always a sign he was waking up, Castle could see Rome's eyelids moving, he was making a sighing noise that Castle loved.

"Romey? Doc can you hear me it's dad, come on kiddo, we're all here, just waiting on you." Castle pushed Rome's hair back out of his eyes, "come on,"

It took a second or two, but slowly Rome's eyes slowly fluttered open, he looked around, a fear in his eyes at not recognizing his surroundings, until they fell on his dad, he tried to talk, to call out to his dad, but couldn't, not with the tube down his windpipe.

Like Dr. Pillar had warned, Rome began panicking, he felt like he was choking, he tried to reach for the tube, but both his hands were being held so he couldn't.

The heart monitor began beeping, matching his frantic heartbeat.

"Rome it's okay, it's okay," Martha cooed "sweetheart it's okay,"

"Alexis go get a nurse, tell them to get Dr. Pillar,"

Alexis nodded and ran past the curtains,

"Hi kiddo, hey there you are," Martha said, signing, Rome slowly stopped panicking and his body relaxed as she brushed his hair back "we've missed you, darling,"

Rome nodded, tears in his eye, he lifted his hand, Martha still holding it, she let go realizing that he wanted to sign, it hurt to move his wrist, even a little bit, but he ignored the pain, he had to sign, he had to communicate, so he signed 'missed you too,'

He looked over at Castle and Castle saw the calmness in Rome's eyes, he didn't need to sign, didn't need to speak for this one, his eyes told it all, he, he was safe with his dad, his dad had rescued him.

Castle smiled gently and signed to Rome 'I love you,' just as the doctor came rushing in,

"Hey there Rome," Rome's eyes went to the doctor, studying his face "my name is Dr. Pillar, I've been taking care of you. You gave us all quite a scare."

Rome looked at his dad then at the doctor and signed

'I'm sorry'

Dr. Pillar chuckled and shook his head

"nothing to apologize for," he paused and signed 'can you hear me okay?'

Rome nodded and signed back 'I can hear,'

"Good boy," Castle whispered giving Rome's hand a squeeze

"We're going to take that tube out of your throat okay Rome? It's there to help you breathe, but I don't think you need it anymore." Martha moved to the other side of the bed, Rome's eyes following her, trying to keep all three of his family in his sight, making sure this wasn't a dream, that they were really here. "Okay buddy, what I'm going to do is pull that tube out, we'll do it on the count of three, I want you to blow out like you're blowing out birthday candles, as hard as you can. Can you do that?"

Rome nodded

"It'll be okay Rome," Alexis said, Rome looked at his sister, and no one missed the relief in his eyes, his sister was okay, she was safe, no one would hurt her as long as he was alive.

"Ready pal?" Dr. Pillar asked and Rome nodded again, Dr. Pillar reached over, unhooked the tube from the ventilator "on the count of three, one…two…three," with that he pulled the tube from Rome's windpipe. Instantly Rome started coughing and gasping for air, he felt like he was going to be sick. "Good job Rome, nice work, you handled that perfectly,"

Rome tried to speak, but his throat hurt too much, he couldn't.

"D…da…" he tried to croak out, Castle reached for his hand and held it tight

"I'm here Rome,"

Dr. Pillar smiled gently at Rome

"Don't try to speak just yet Rome, soon I promise. We're going to move you to your own room in a little while, and maybe if you're feeling up to it we'll get you some ice cream." Rome grinned a little at the prospect of ice cream, he was so hungry and now he was remembering it. "And I want you to go easy on the signing, I know it's your first instinct to do, but your wrists are in bad shape, they need time to heal, so only sign if it's really important. In an hour or so you should be able to speak okay?"

Rome nodded

"Good, I'll be right back, just going to check on your room. If you guys need anything, just hit the call button."

Dr. Pillar was true to his word, about twenty minutes later Rome was wheeled down the hall to a room, it wasn't exactly private because it had another bed in it, but it wasn't occupied, Rome had the room to himself.

Dr. Pillar also kept his word about the ice cream, which a nurse brought to Rome an hour or so after he woke up. He only managed to eat a few bites, before his throat began to hurt and he sadly pushed it away.

"Soon Doc," Castle said gently ruffling Rome's hair "you'll be able to pack down a triple scoop, everything on it extra whipped cream, hot fudge sundae soon."

"When dad?" Rome asked

"When we get you home," Castle tried to explain, but Rome simply shrugged and gave his dad a weak smile. He tried to itch around the electrodes that were all over his body and frowned at them.

"When can I get these things off?" he asked

Martha, who was sitting on the other side of Rome's hospital bed leaned forward and kissed his forehead

"Soon Romey,"

"I really don't like soon," Rome admitted, "it sounds like it'll be really close, but it ends up being really far in the future."

Martha, Castle, and Alexis chuckled a little. Alexis scooted closer to her brother and hugged him as gently as she could

"Missed you so much Rome," she said smiling a little

"Missed you too Lex, missed all of you guys."

"And we missed you Doc," Castle replied, "but you're safe now, soon you'll be home in your own bed."

"Again with soon dad," Rome moaned, itching around the electrodes "I really want these things off, they're making me itchy, like when I had chicken pox." He paused "why do I have them on anyway? I'm awake, weren't they just for when I was asleep?"

Castle and Martha exchanged a look, and Rome noticed it. He winced and tiled his head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Doc, the electrodes have to stay on for a little while longer,"

"Why?"

"Romey it's so the doctors can keep an eye on you," Castle paused and sighed "Romey you had a seizure on the way to the hospital. It stopped your heart pal."

Rome's eyes went wide as he followed his dad's hands, just to make sure he wasn't missing any part of the conversation

"my heart stopped," Rome asked timidly "like literally stopped?"

"It did pal, but the paramedics and I were able to get it beating again. But the doctors were worried that you might have another seizure so that's why you have the electrodes on your chest, so they can monitor your heart, and the ones on your temples are in case you do have another seizure they can see it coming and try to stop it."

Rome bit his lip hard, one of his classmates had epilepsy, and Rome had seen him have a seizure once or twice in school and it was always a scary experience. He couldn't imagine having one himself.

"Am I going to have more?" he asked softly

"We hope not darling," Martha explained "these are just a precaution,"

Rome nodded

"Okay," he said as Martha took his hand gently and gave it a squeeze, minding the bandages on his wrist.

Castle was about to go into more detail when he heard a knocking on the doorframe of Rome's room.

Seconds later, Beckett poked her head in cautiously, a worried smile on her face.

"Hi," she said softly "you guys up for visitors?"

Castle smiled at his partner with relief and nodded

"Romey, look who's here," he said. Rome twisted his head around his grandmother to look at the door and grinned widely when he saw Beckett.

"Detective Beckett!" he exclaimed as loud as he could, which because of the tube that had left its temporary mark on his throat, wasn't very loud.

"Hi Rome," she said coming inside, in her arms was a small teddy bear, which she brought over Rome "the gift shop didn't have any wolves I'm afraid," she explained handing the bear to him, and hugging him gently. When she let him go, Rome smiled up at her

"It's okay, thank you," he said "for everything,"

"You're welcome Rome," she turned to the doorway and called "come on in guys," she turned back to Rome and smiled wide "I hope you're up for a lot of visitors because there are a few people that really wanted to check on you."

Rome looked at the doorway with curiosity as Detectives Ryan and Esposito came into the room, followed by Dr. Parish, all with goodies in their arms. Dr. Parish had a book, Ryan and Espo had balloons and Rome could see a small box tucked under Esposito's arm, which contained a small remote-controlled helicopter.

"Hey, there's the man of the hour!" Espo exclaimed as they crowded into the room.

Rome couldn't keep the grin off his face. Espo reached forward and Rome, minding his wrist as carefully as he could fist bumped Espo, before doing the same with Ryan.

Lanie leaned over and hugged him gently before she signed to him 'glad you're safe sweetie'.

"Thank you," Rome replied "thank you guys,"

"How are you feeling kid?" Ryan asked

Rome nodded

"Better, still kind of tired, and hungry."

The group looked at the ice cream bowl curiously

"His throat's still too sore for him to eat." Castle explained and Beckett raised an eyebrow.

'Sore?' she mouthed

Out of Rome's eyesight Castle demonstrated with hand gestures, and Beckett understood instantly. She hadn't realized that Rome had to be put on a vent, it was only then she noticed the electrodes all over his tiny body. She looked at Castle for another explanation and he mouthed

'seizures, they stopped his heart briefly'

Beckett tried to keep the horrified look off her face but really struggled to do so. Castle gave her a grim nod and shrugged.

"Can I talk to you for a second Castle?" Beckett asked and Castle nodded, Rome was too busy watching Espo take the toy helicopter out of the box to notice anything else. Rome's grin was contagious as Espo began flying the mini-copter around the room.

Out in the hallway, Castle looked at his partner and friend expectantly

"What's up?"

"Thought you should know about Martin."

Castle felt his heart skip a beat and his stomach drop. That bastard was lucky that Beckett had come in when she did, he was fully prepared to make Sebastian pay, the only thing that had really stopped him was the fact that Rome was in his arms, hiding his head, begging to go home.

Castle knew he couldn't do anything to M, not in front of his son, Rome knew that his dad would do anything in his power to protect him, but Castle did not want Rome to see that side of him. But M would do good to pray to whatever god he believed in if Castle ever got him alone.

"Let me guess, that bastard lawyered up," Castle growled and Beckett shook her head

"As a matter of fact he didn't, he confessed to everything, said he didn't want a lawyer, he willingly signed a confession right then and there." Beckett paused

"What's he going for an insanity defense?"

"Who the hell knows? The evidence against him is mindboggling, we've got Carlson ready to testify against him, the DA set him up with a plea bargain."

"What's going to happen to him anyway?"

"Carlson?" Beckett asked and Castle nodded

"He'd normally get twenty-five to life as an accessory to kidnapping, but because of the plea bargain, he's getting fifteen to twenty, the possibility of parole in ten. Actually, he asked for maximum security, that way he doesn't have to mingle with the general population."

"What will happen to Sebastian?"

"Depends on the judge, even if he pleads guilty, whoever the judge is will probably demand the max. Life without parole. He claims he doesn't want a trial, he said he doesn't need one."

"Arrogant sonuvabitch," Castle muttered

"No trial is a good thing Castle, it means Rome won't have to testify,"

"Thank god for that," Castle replied he looked into the hospital room, Rome was laughing and smiling, two things Castle never expected to experience from his son again.

He knew the terror Rome had experienced was going to take a long time to heal, but he also knew Dr. Pillar was right, Rome was a strong kid, he would be okay in time…

Castle knew that it would be better for everyone if there was no trial, no chance for Rome to have to take the stand and face M, no chance for Castle and M to be in the same room together. He could not guarantee that he would not go after M for everything that he had done to Rome, done to the family.

"Hey Dad," Rome's voice caught Beckett and Castle's attention

"Yeah, kiddo?" Castle asked looking the room, just as the helicopter flew by his head, then flew back into the room "Who put the helipad down here?!" he exclaimed and Rome grinned

"Was just going to tell you to duck!" Rome replied pointing at Espo who was holding the controller.

"Sorry dad," Epso said grinning as he gently nudged Rome, everyone burst out laughing at that.

 

                                                                          


	26. Chapter 26

                                      

Castle knew he shouldn't, but he allowed Rome to sit in his lap while they watched some TV. Rome watched with his head against his father' chest; his hearing aids were in, but Rome wasn't even paying attention to whatever was on TV. Instead, he was just happy to be in his dad's arms, his dad's strong arms wrapped around him, holding him close, protecting him, and keeping him safe no matter what.

He could feel his dad's heart beating, the thump, thump, thump and it was soothing; it was familiar. Then his dad would take a breath and that too was familiar and comforting.

It was getting late and both father and son knew bedtime was creeping closer, but this was Rome's first night home from the hospital, his first night home since his kidnapping and Castle wasn't ready to let go of him just yet.

They had Skyped Meredith a few hours before. She had broken down in tears when Castle had called her while they were still at the hospital, letting her know that Rome was safe. She had also apologized to her ex for blaming him, for everything she had said.

Castle had been surprised on that front, he had also been dumbfounded to learn that the reason Meredith hadn't flown out to New York was that M had called her and threatened Rome's life if she did.

That had led to a long conversation between the parents, both of them reassuring one another, comforting each other, and silently remembering how close they had come to losing one of their children.

The Skype call hadn't been very long. Meredith wanted to make sure Rome was okay and to reassure him, but she also didn't want to bring up any memories for Rome. So she comforted him as best she could, told him over and over how much she loved him and promised that she would come to New York soon. Rome had smiled at that, told his mother he loved her too and promised that when she came out, he would give her the biggest hug he could.

It was after the call, the family sat and relaxed in front of the TV, Castle was sure that none of them were actually watching it.

When Rome started pawing at his eyes, trying to rub the sleep from them, fighting to stay awake, Castle knew it was time.

Alexis and Martha each hugged Rome tight and he didn't fight this, he hugged them back just as tight.

"Welcome home kiddo," Martha said kissing his head as she rocked him

"Thank you gram,"

"I missed you Rome," Alexis said

"I missed you too sis," he paused "love you guys," he whispered, before turning to his dad.

Castle picked him up like he had done when Rome was little. He let Rome latch on to his neck as he carried him to bed. With Rome's wrists still bandaged and still sore, he had trouble putting his PJs on, so Castle had to help him.

Rome was trying to put on a brave face, show his dad that he was okay, Castle wasn't fooled, but neither mentioned it as Castle slid Rome into bed, pulling the covers uptight.

He stroked Rome's hair back, afraid to let Rome out of his sight, knowing he would have to leave him eventually, but Castle wasn't ready. Rome had asked to sleep in his bed and Castle was all set to oblige, but Dr. Pillar's warning about coddling Rome too much played in his head and he decided to see how Rome did for the night, fully aware that there was a good chance his ten year old may be joining him for the night.

"Dad?" Rome asked, slowly opening his eyes, he was still so exhausted from his ordeal, it was written all over his face.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Thank you,"

"For what?" Castle asked taken aback for a second

"Coming to get me,"

"Romey, you didn't think I wouldn't did you?"

Rome shook his head quickly

"No, no I knew you'd come. I never doubted that…I just, when my body felt like it wanted to give up, I kept thinking of you, Alexis, Gram, Mom and how much I would miss you guys and it made me not want to give up."

Castle felt the tears welling up in his eyes again. He couldn't cry anymore, there was no reason to. His son was home, he was safe, but Rome's words hit him hard. No child should ever have to contemplate their own mortality, come so close to death that it was on their mind.

His children while exposed to murder through his books and his work with Beckett was an exception, but neither Rome nor Alexis would on normal circumstances face that kind of thought about themselves, it was just one more thing to hate about Sebastian, one more thing he had taken from Rome and warped, Rome's understanding of death.

"Oh Romey," Castle said, he reached up to the bunk and hugged Rome tight, breathing him in, "I love you kiddo. I'm just glad I got you back, this week, I thought…I thought I'd never see you again, never hold you. I was so scared that I had lost you forever and I couldn't bear that idea. I lost hope a few times Romey and I'm sorry, but I never stopped trying to find you." Castle paused taking a deep breath, the only way to keep the tears at bay. "I couldn't be more proud of you. You stayed smart, leaving all those extra clues for me, your breadcrumbs." Rome's eyes lit up a little at the mention of his breadcrumbs "those were ingenious Dr. Watson and you helped get yourself rescued, not many people would be able to do that."

Rome took a deep breath like he was contemplating something, something he really didn't want to ask, but at the same time needed to.

"Dad, why did he do it?" Rome rubbed his still bandaged wrists, the wounds below them would never fully heal, at least Dr. Pillar didn't think so, it would be faint, but Rome would carry the scars inflicted by the zip-ties for the rest of his life. "Why did M…why did he do all of this?"

Castle thought this over, rubbing his chin, trying to come up with an answer for his son. He took a deep breath

"M…M wanted to punish gram and me. And he knew that nothing would hurt us more than taking you or Alexis from us."

"Punish you guys?" Rome asked confused "why, why did he want to punish you? How did he even know you?"

"Rome, you know how I had taken my first manuscript to a lot of publishers before Black Pawn?" Rome nodded "well M's real name is Sebastian Martin, he worked for a publisher I brought my manuscript to. M decided he didn't like my novel and rejected it."

Rome was really confused now, exhaustion was probably playing a pretty big part in it, but it still made no sense to him.

"But, but if he rejected you why is he punishing you?"

Castle had been asking himself that same question for a week now…and still didn't have a good answer.

"Rome he's not in his right mind. In his twisted mind, he blames me for my success, in spite of his rejection I still made it. He didn't knock me down, I just kept pushing. His company let him go because of some other mistakes he had made, but he blamed me for it, he felt that because I became a success even after he rejected my novel I had caused him to be fired, that it was my fault. He knew if he went after me directly it wouldn't do him any good, but he knew I would do anything to get you back, even play his game."

"He said he was going to launch your career. That thanks to him you'd be the next Dickens, the next Poe, you'd sur...surpass Patterson…" Rome paused "I told him that you had written twenty-seven novels on your own. You didn't need his stupid help, you're already a bestseller, you didn't need him."

Castle stared at Rome in shock and a little pride. He knew Rome had been risking his life arguing with M like that, but he couldn't help his smile; even imprisoned and scared, Rome had risked his life to defend his dad.

"Kiddo did you really?"

Rome nodded, smiling weakly

"'Course I did. I had to protect you guys."

Castle didn't miss Rome's words 'you guys,'

"Guys, Rome? As in plural?"

Rome ducked his head, angry at himself for speaking before thinking.

"It's nothing," he muttered

"Roman, it's me, whatever is on your mind, you can always tell me. You've known that your entire life, and that will never change Doc."

Rome took a deep breath and sat up so he was leaning against the back railing of his bunk bed.

"M got really mad at me when I tried to escape the first time, he didn't tie my wrists well enough and left the cage door unlocked…I was able to get loose and escape…again." Rome paused "I got outside dad, that was how I was sure I was in the Bronx…I could see the city, I could see home, but M grabbed me and dragged me back into the factory. I should've ran, kept running instead of stopping to look at the city. Even after we were back inside, I could've fought him, found another way to escape."

"I'm glad you didn't pal, he was dangerous."

Rome coughed and nodded quickly

"Believe me, I know," Rome replied, he pulled his knees up to his chest, his whole body was shaking and he couldn't help the tears running down his cheeks. "He showed me Alexis' picture, he said if I didn't behave, didn't stop trying to escape he would bring Alexis to there, he'd put her in a crate too…" Rome choked a little bit "he said her job wouldn't be to draw you pictures. I couldn't risk it, dad, I couldn't risk Alexis' lifelike that I had to protect her. I stopped arguing with M, I stopped trying to escape, I gave in."

Now Castle reached up and pulled Rome down from the bed, hugging him as tight as he could. He didn't know how to reply to that, it was bad enough that M had kidnapped and nearly killed Rome, but the fact that he had used Rome's love and protectiveness of his sister as a way to control him, made Castle not only angrier, but sick to his stomach.

"Oh Romey," Castle said, fighting back his own tears as he rocked Rome, like he used to when he was a baby. "I'm so proud of you, my brave Doc; that was very selfless of you."

Rome rubbed his eyes, clearly desperate to change the subject

"Dad, did he really make you write a book?"

"Sort of. Your clues got us to you so quick M didn't get his entire book, only a few chapters. He took something we both love doing Rome and used it against us. But we can't let him stop us from doing what we love right? I'll keep writing you'll keep drawing,"

"What happened to the book?"

Castle wasn't sure why Rome was so fixated on the book, but he wasn't going to lie to Rome.

"It's in evidence right now. Once everything is over and done with, it'll go into storage. I don't want anything to do with it."

"Me neither," Rome said

"In fact, I was going to ask Beckett if we could destroy it, a nice bonfire in the living room."

Rome nodded quickly

"Can we?"

"Of course,"

"The drawings too?"

Castle nodded. The drawings, like the book, were just reminders of the ordeal the family had been through, Castle agreed with Rome 100% about destroying them, but in the back of his mind the drawings were impressive, Rome's talent in full form.

"We will, I promise," Castle paused and helped Rome back up into bed, helping him back under his covers. "Get some sleep Dr. Watson, just remember you are home, you're safe, and I'm right here. Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"

Rome nodded, Castle pulled the covers up under Rome's chin, he brushed Rome's hair back and kissed his forehead. For the first time in years, Rome didn't squirm from the kiss or complain that he was too old to be kissed.

"Love you, dad," he said softly

"Love you too Rome, welcome home."

Rome rolled over so he was against the wall tight, Balto close to his body. Castle didn't miss the fact that Rome's thumb made its way to his mouth. He sighed; Rome hadn't sucked his thumb since he was four. He wondered how many more of things Rome had outgrown were going to resurface because of this ordeal.

Though Rome was clearly asleep, Castle could see his whole body shaking, as if he was cold even though he had enough blankets to supply an army.

Carefully, Castle stepped onto the ladder and tucked the pile of blankets tight around Rome, the shivering slowed, but it didn't come to a complete stop

Castle wasn't ready to leave Rome, he couldn't, he was afraid to leave Rome alone, afraid if he blinked he would wake up and be thrown back into the living nightmare where his son was kidnapped. He hated to think that this itself was the dream…

So Castle dimmed the lights just enough, not ready to let Rome be in total darkness again and sat down at Rome's desk, making himself comfortable in the rolling chair, trying to stay awake.

It didn't take long for Castle to fall asleep, he was just as exhausted as Rome and hearing Rome's familiar sighing noises soothed Castle enough to accept sleep. Neither would stay asleep though.

Halfway through the night, Rome's nightmare began. He was in the factory, it was dark, the vibration of M's shoes on the floor were coming towards him. He wasn't in the crate anymore, but he was still trapped in the factory, he had to find a way out. Dad…dad where was he?

In reality, Rome was still in bed. He was squirming and rolling back and forth trying to get away; M was chasing him, he was coming to put him back in the crate. He could feel the zip-ties, getting tighter around his wrist, suddenly they weren't just around his wrists, they were around his neck…and getting tighter, he couldn't breathe.

"No…" Rome mumbled, "no, please…no…" His mumbling became louder…suddenly Rome screamed "NO!" at the top of his lungs. He didn't even make it down the ladder of his bunk; he fell out of bed, hitting the floor with a hard thud.

He knew he had hurt his already injured foot and probably hurt his wrists too, but he didn't care, he couldn't feel it. Instead, Rome wiggled his way under his bed; it was as good a hiding place as any…

Within seconds of Rome's scream Castle was awake and on his feet stumbling around in the dark for the light switch, turning it on as quick as he could when he heard the sickening thud he knew to be Rome falling out of bed.

"Rome?!" he exclaimed looking around the room quickly, no sign of his son, seconds later Alexis appeared in the doorway with Martha right behind her, both looking exhausted and frightened.

"Richard?" Martha asked

"Nightmare," Castle explained. Rome's bed was empty; his blankets had been kicked all over the place and Balto was nowhere to be seen. Castle's first thought was that Rome was downstairs in his office, his favorite hiding spot under the big desk, the first place he always ran to after a nightmare or when he was scared. But Castle knew there hadn't been enough time for Rome to get down there…the only other place was under the bunk-bed.

"Where is he?" Martha asked worriedly,

"I think I've got a good idea." Castle knelt to the floor and peered under the bed. Wedged in as tight as he could, sobbing with Balto locked securely in the crook of his arm, was Rome. "Romey?" Castle said, not sure if Rome would actually be able to hear him. He reached under the bed and gently tapped Rome's arm.

The reaction he got was not what Castle expected. Rome screamed again, jumping up in the small space and smashing his head on the wooden frame of the bottom-bunk. He covered his head with his arms and sobbed louder

"No, no, please, no leave me alone, dad…daddy, please I want dad!" he begged

"Rome it's me, it's dad," Castle called, but Rome tightened his body up, even more, pushing further under the bed and away from whoever had touched him. Hurt, but knowing it was bound to happen Castle looked up his mother and Alexis.

Martha knelt down next to her son and tried her hand at connecting with Rome.

"Roman, darling, come on" she reached under, but Rome was just out of reach, he was as close to the wall as humanly possible and Martha could see his entire body shaking with fear. He didn't react to her voice at all and that was the confirmation the pair needed, Rome's hearing was gone for the night, they wouldn't be able to coax him out from under the bed or soothe his tears. She scooted back and looked at Castle "oh Richard what are we going to do?"

Castle rubbed his chin and sat with his back leaning on the bottom bunk

"Dr. Pillar said this was a possibility, he said Rome would probably have night terrors."

"But like this?" Martha exclaimed, "he won't even let us touch him."

"Dad?" Alexis called from the doorway, her eyes wide with shock "do you want me to try?"

Castle shook his head

"No, why don't you both go back to bed, I'll stay here with him, hopefully, he'll come out soon." Castle looked up at the top bunk above him "I think the bunk bed is out for a while though. Dr. Pillar said not to coddle him, but maybe it would be better if he stayed in my room for the next few nights."

Martha nodded

"I think that would be best Richard."

"Daddy?" Rome's soft voice called "daddy?"

Castle hit the floor again and looked under the bed, Rome was looking right at him, he was himself and no longer stuck in a nightmare.

"Hey kiddo," Castle replied, "come on Doc, give me your hand I'll help you out of there."

Timidly Rome held out his hand and took his father's, as gently as he could Castle pulled Rome out from under the bed and lifted him into his arms.

"Dad, I'm sorry," Rome whimpered, hugging his dad tight "I'm so sorry,"

"It's okay Romey, come on, let's get you to bed,"

Rome looked at his bunk bed quickly and shivered

"Dad can I-" he started to ask and Castle nodded

"Yes Doc, you can sleep in my bed." Castle carried Rome down the stairs, Martha right behind them, Alexis watched them for a second before going back to her room.

Inside his room, Castle gently put Rome down on the bed, he was already fast asleep. The second Castle put him down though, he curled back up in a little ball, his thumb was back in his mouth, with Balto in the crook of his arm. Martha watched from the doorway as her son looked back at her.

"Richard is he-" she started to ask

"Sucking his thumb?" Castle asked and she nodded "yes, he is." He finished rubbing his chin. "I have a feeling it's just one of many things that are going to come back for a while."

"Daddy," Rome called weakly, clearly still asleep, "daddy, don't leave me please…stay with me, daddy,"

Castle sighed as his mother hugged him tightly before she turned to go back to her room. Castle sat down on the bed, watching Rome curl up tighter and tighter, he stroked Rome's hair, knowing he wasn't going to be sleeping that night. Rome moved closer to his dad and snuggled under his dad's arm, Castle weakly smiled.

"I'll always be here Doc, I'll never leave you," he said softly. "I love you, Romey."

 

                                                   


	27. Chapter 27

                                                    

One Week later

Castle and Kate were relaxing on his sofa with a glass of wine. Martha was at her studio, both Castle kids were upstairs, safe and sound, for the first time in what felt like a long time.

Case closed.

Rome was back.

The nightmares were still waking the family up in the middle of the night, but even those had slowed a little bit from a few every night to maybe one or two. Rome was sleeping in his own room again, with a nightlight and on the bottom bunk for his own safety.

He had also returned to school, under the pretense that he had been sick with the flu for a week; at least that was what his classmates were told, the teachers, on the other hand, knew the truth.

Castle had set up a Parent-Teacher meeting, to explain what had really happened. All had been understandably shocked by the news and were all doing their best to not only keep an eye on Rome to make sure he was doing okay but making sure his classmates had no idea what had really happened to their friend, especially not Rome's best friends. At least not until Rome was ready to tell them.

Beckett had swung by unannounced and Castle, hoping that their relationship was back to the way it was before he looked into her mother's case, had let her in willingly. She had come just before the kids headed to bed and Rome had been so excited to see her and she was excited to see him. She had been to see him at the hospital, the entire team had, but Rome felt a lot better with her visiting now, when he was home.

"Castle, I need to tell you something now that this is all over with," Kate started, "remember the guy, Smith, who led us to M?"

"You aren't dating him are you?"

"I am definitely not" she deadpanned.

"I wouldn't blame you, he did have a ruggedly handsome, older man look about him," he joked. Beckett's stomach rolled. This was not going to plan.

"Will you just shush, and let me tell you this please."

"Right, sorry." Castle motioned zipping up his lips.

Kate paused. Now she had started this, she wished she hadn't. But it was time to rip the band-aid off. He had to know.

"He's your father."

Castle scoffed, "That is the worst impression of Darth Vadar I have ever heard Beckett."

"Rick."

The use of his first name, made him twist fully towards her. He looked at her, really saw her, really hear her words. She had a dead set look in her eyes, her mouth had pressed into a thin line. Castle's smile quickly disappeared.

"What?"

He fixed hard eyes onto Kate's face. She could see the cogs turning. He was putting things together, the details that hadn't quite fit into place.

"Smith is my father?" he had turned away from Kate, processing the information, or at least attempting to. Kate didn't answer; the question wasn't aimed at her. When he turned back, he looked calm, too calm. "When did you find out?"

Honesty. She had promised herself that there would be no more secrets or lies between them, so she looked him dead in the eye, chin raised.

"He told me during the interrogation."

The calm became fire.

"All this time you have known. When you called me, and I asked you what happened, you lied" he accused.

"I didn't lie to you Castle, it just wasn't the right time to tell you everything." Kate had now stood from the couch; she wanted to be on his level when they did this.

Castle was fuming. "Wasn't the right time? That wasn't for you to decide!"

Again, she stayed silent and only watched him pace a little, working through the energy his anger provided. She got it, she did. He of all people should know that she had felt betrayal before. From his hands no less.

Castle paused, eyes to the ground. His voice came out almost as a whisper now; defeated, resigned.

"How could you not tell me who he was? How could you keep something like that from me?"

His father had walked into and back out of his life, without him realizing, without him being able to ask all those questions he had had over the years.

"Castle, I did it for Rome. Smith would only tell me what he knew if I promised to keep his identity a secret" Kate was trying to reason with him, though it sounded more pleading than she would have liked.

"Oh of course you did, because you always bow to the demands of suspects" his voice was laced with sarcasm. "You just wanted to get back at me for looking into your mother's murder."

Kate rocked back on her heels; that felt like a knife to the gut.

"You think I could be that cold, that deceitful, that vengeful?"

Castle said nothing. The silence said everything.

They were standing only a few paces apart, but they could have been opposite sides of the room for the space that it felt like.

All that work that had brought them step by step closer together, the slow rebuilding of their partnership, shattered with his silence.

When Castle had pulled her out of Sorenson's hospital room and told her how he had gone behind her back, against her wish that he leave her mother's case well alone, she thought that she couldn't hurt more than she did at that moment. Until perhaps now.

"So you think that I placed my twisted need for revenge on you before the wellbeing of your son?"

The hurt had quickly morphed into anger.

Castle rubbed a hand down his face.

"Kate, I didn't mean…" he started but was swiftly cut off.

"Don't tell me you didn't mean that. You obviously did as you wouldn't have said it"

"I'm pissed as hell at you, of course, I am going to say things I don't mean," he snapped back.

"Fine, be pissed. I'm still pissed at you. Yes, you hurt me Castle, but that doesn't mean I wanted to hurt you back."

Ok, so perhaps the honesty she had previously been channeling had somewhat disappeared. Of course, she wanted to hurt him. In some way. The year that they had spent together had opened her eyes; made her see that she was surviving as opposed to living. Since her mother's murder she had been consumed by her work, her quest for justice.

When Richard Castle barreled into her life she had resisted his charm, his passion, his energy; it went against the persona she had built for herself as a tough, bad-ass cop. The walls were there for a reason.

However, slowly but surely, he had started to break through that wall, brick by brick, until he hit the jackpot. She never opened up or told anyone about her mother unless absolutely necessary. Captain Montgomery knew, as did the boys; they were her team, they risked their lives day in and day out for each other.

Castle? A murder mystery novelist whose books were the pride of place on her bookshelf, dog-eared and sodden from night after night of bath reading, how did he get in? The self-centered player portrayal of him by the media seemed to be spot on those first few weeks.

Over time, Kate came to know better. She caught glimpses of sincerity, paternal worry, genuine concern for others, a passion for justice and completion like her; partner material. That is how he knew.

And that is why it hurt so damn much. She rarely let anyone in, and those that she had, stayed there and stayed true to her and her wishes. Castle got in and rummaged around, digging and twisting and searching. Why couldn't he have just stayed put? Been contended with the small bits she was willing to give to him? Everyone else was. He had opened up a wound of hers that she had tried so hard to heal. So yes, she wanted to hurt him, freeze him out; get back to her life before him.

Unbeknownst to the pair, Rome and Alexis were at the top of the stairs out of sight, listening in.

Alexis had been reading in her room, Rome was supposed to be sound asleep. She had heard the now all too familiar sounds of him having a nightmare and had gone rushing into his room to check on her little brother, waking him up before the nightmare could get out of hand.

She was leading him towards the stairs to help him get a glass of milk when she heard Castle's angry shouts, followed by Beckett's equally angry reply.

Rome didn't have his hearing aids in, but he felt the vibrations and had pulled his sister to a stop as she listened in. She signed as much as she could for him and he used the vibrations to fill in the rest.

The one word that hit him hard was the word 'father,' their dad's father…their grandfather.

Suddenly Rome flashed back to the crate….to the factory…

A man, older than his father, around M's age…talking to him, trying to calm him down… Clarence, why did the name Clarence keep popping into his mind, he cleaned off the blood from Rome's forehead, said he was his grandfather.

Rome couldn't really see his face, couldn't remember much about him, just his eyes, so similar to his dad's.

Alexis looked over at Rome carefully, he had been home for a week, but Alexis' mothering of him had not waned. She had always been protective of him, even though Rome tried to insist it should be the other way around, but since coming home that overprotectiveness had only gotten stronger.

'Rome?' she signed tapping his shoulder "what's the matter?"

"I think I saw him," Rome admitted, "I think he was in the factory, I think he tried to save me."

Down below them, Beckett's heeled boots clicked on the hardwood floor as she moved towards the door and shut it hard behind her.

Before Alexis could stop him, Rome moved slowly down the stairs until he hit the bottom landing. Castle was red-faced, staring hurt at the door. He looked over quickly when he felt someone watching him.

"Doc?" he said taking a deep breath, he hadn't even noticed Rome had come downstairs, so light-footed, he was tempted to put bells or something on his son. "Doc what's the matter did you have a nightmare?" Rome shook his head, he looked over at the door then back at his dad. "kiddo you didn't hear that did you?"

Again Rome shook his head, he tapped his ears

"Hearing's gone for the night dad," Castle started to sigh with relief when he spotted Alexis coming down the stairs after her brother. "Alexis signed it to me though,"

"Oh," Castle moaned "I'm sorry guys, we didn't mean to wake you guys up."

"You didn't," Alexis replied, she put her arm around Rome's shoulders, hugging him close. "Was Beckett really talking about your dad? Did she really meet him?"

"So it would seem," Castle said with a sigh, he looked at Rome who had a distressed look on his face. "Romey, what's the matter?"

Rome looked at his sister for a second then back at his dad, unsure if his memories were real or just his imagination. He couldn't really put a face to the voice and could only remember the eyes, but what he did remember, the man reminded him of his dad.

"I thought," Rome took a deep breath, "I thought he was an angel, I was so out of it, I seriously thought he was coming to take me away, take me to..." Rome let his voice trail off, he couldn't say the word heaven, it hurt too much.

Castle felt his heart pick up speed, this was all new, Rome hadn't mentioned much about his confinement, Castle was just waiting for him to be ready, he also was wondering how much Rome really remembered.

"Romey?"

He looked right at his dad

"He said he's been keeping an eye on all of us, watching us grow up, he said he's so proud of Alexis and me, and he's extremely proud of you. That he didn't have much to be proud of, but you're one, proud of the man you've become." Rome paused "I don't remember anything else dad…I'm sorry, I don't even know why I remembered that much."

Castle walked over and wrapped his arms around both Alexis and Rome, scooping them up in a big bear hug.

"Don't apologize, Romey, I'm just glad you're home and you're safe. I've got you both and that's more than I'll ever need."

"Is Detective Beckett mad at you again?" Alexis asked as Castle let them go

"So what else is new?" he paused "but it's okay, I'm sure this whole thing will blow over before we know it. She can't possibly stay mad at me forever." He kissed both kids on the top of their heads "come on you guys let's get you both to bed." He paused again "how about we all play hooky tomorrow?"

Alexis and Rome exchanged a look, and to Rome's surprise, Alexis was smiling nodding quickly.

"Can we go to the museum?" Rome asked and Alexis nodded her agreement

"I think the museum sounds perfect Doc. Absolutely perfect."


End file.
